Eating Disorders in the Workplace

Background/Objectives: Although eating disorders (EDs) affect a large portion of the population and have a significant impact on health and productivity, they are understudied in the workplace. We assessed the frequency of EDs and studied the relationship between EDs and occupational and individual factors. Methods: All workers undergoing health surveillance were invited to fill in the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and, before their routine medical examination that included metabolic tests, measure their level of health literacy, stress, quality of sleep, anxiety, depression and happiness. 1,912 out of a total of 2,085 workers (91.7%) participated. Results: Suspected EDs affected 4.9% of workers, with no notable difference in gender. Cases were significantly associated with trauma and emotional factors (anxiety, depression, unhappiness), but also with work-related stress and poor sleep quality, and negatively associated with health literacy. An association was also found between EDs and overweight, obesity, increased abdominal circumference, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia, arterial hypertension, atherogenic index of plasma and metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: The workplace is an ideal setting for the prevention of EDs and their consequences. Occupational health intervention should promote health literacy, improve sleep quality and reduce work-related stress.