Objective: To estimate the prevalence of obesity and the change of prevalence of obesity between 2004−2007 and 2008−20011 by occupation among US workers in the National Health Interview Survey. Methods: Self-reported weight and height were collected and used to assess obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²). Gender-, race/ethnicity-, and occupation-specific prevalence of obesity were calculated. Results: Prevalence of obesity steadily increased from 2004 through 2008 across gender and race/ethnicity but leveled off from 2008 through 2011. Non-Hispanic black female workers in health care support (49.2%) and transportation/material moving (46.6%) had the highest prevalence of obesity. Prevalence of obesity in relatively low-obesity (white-collar) occupations significantly increased between 2004−2007 and 2008−2011, whereas it did not change significantly in high-obesity (blue-collar) occupations. Conclusions: Workers in all occupational categories are appropriate targets for health promotion and intervention programs to reduce obesity.

Objective: To investigate the associations between long work hours and adiposity measures in police officers. Methods: Participants included 408 officers from the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress study who were examined between 2004 and 2009. Total work hours were abstracted from payroll records and questionnaires. Analysis of variance and covariance models were used. Results: Among male officers who worked the midnight shift, mean values of waist circumference and body mass index increased with longer work hours after adjustment for age, physical activity, energy intake, sleep duration, smoking status, police rank, activities after work (eg, child/family care, sports), and household income. Adiposity measures were not associated with work hours among women on any shift. Conclusion: Working longer hours was significantly associated with larger waist circumferences and higher body mass index among male police officers working the midnight shift.