Exploring occupational and health behavioral causes of firefighter obesity: a qualitative study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baker, Dean B. ; Choi B ; Dobson M ; Garcia-Rivas J ; Israel L ; Schnall PL ; Wigger E
• Description:
  Background: Firefighters, as an occupational group, have one of the highest prevalence rates of obesity. A qualitative study investigated occupational and health behavioral determinants of obesity among firefighters. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted with firefighters of every rank as Phase I of the FORWARD study which was designed to assess health behavioral and occupational characteristics related to obesity in firefighters. Results: Analysis revealed five main themes of central importance to firefighters: (1) fire station eating culture; (2) night calls and sleep interruption; (3) supervisor leadership and physical fitness; (4) sedentary work; and (5) age and generational influences. Conclusion: The results showed a strong interrelationship between occupational and health behavioral causes of obesity in firefighters. The relevance of these qualitative findings are discussed along with the implications for future obesity interventions with firefighters. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Behavior Body Weight Diet Firefighters Mass Behavior Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Shift Work Schedule Sleep Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Age-factors Author Keywords: Obesity Behavior-patterns Body-weight Fire-fighters Firefighters Food Group-behavior Group-dynamics Health Behaviors Nutrition Occupational Health Physical-fitness Qualitative-analysis Qualitative Research Risk-analysis Risk-factors Shift-work Sleep-deprivation Supervisory-personnel Weight-factors Weight-measurement Work-environment Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  56
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042982
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2013 Jul; 56(7):776-790
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Marnie Dobson, PhD and Dr. BongKyoo Choi, ScD, Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of California Irvine, 5201 California Avenue, Suite100, Irvine, CA 92617
• Email:
  mdobson@uci.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Irvine
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20100901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20130831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:75bb24d8921ed544171a4ad95039bb0457d24b9627476e568d66c1c03a5e9f40798d0d246f7ee9afefd4376db3fd4ea3a9ff732afd70c2eb332fd6da4c4af705
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195027/cdc_195027_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 155.42 KB ]