Working two or more jobs and longer hours makes you prone to heavy drinking, study says

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Times Gazette

BY MATTHEW RIDEOUT

Social researchers are aware that holding two or more jobs, or working longer hours per week puts more food on the table, but they have also found a link between working longer hours and developing a tendency for binge drinking.

The research study comprised 330,000 participants from 14 countries across continents, and it is regarded as one of the largest studies of its kind. The study finds a link between working longer hours per day or week and engaging in heavy drinking, which is regarded as 4 drinks or more per week for women and 21 drinks or more per week for men. The researchers believe people that work for longer hours have an 11% chances of drinking higher quantities of alcohol.

“The workplace is an important setting for the prevention of alcohol misuse, because more than half of the adult population are employed…Further research is needed to assess whether preventive interventions against risky alcohol use could benefit from information on working hours,” said Cassandra Okechukwu of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Since this is not rocket science, the researchers find it awkward actually proving the idea of heavy drinking with extended hours at work, but then this is the first time that researchers will be pointing to a link between working longer hours and drinking. The fact also remains that working consistently for longer hours is never good for the health, and it affects other aspects of personal, family, and professional life.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://www.thetimesgazette.com/working-two-or-more-jobs-and-longer-hours-makes-you-prone-to-heavy-drinking-study-says/567/

[raccoon]

1. I am shocked--shocked, at this conclusion. nt

[progree]

2. "4 drinks or more per week for women and 21 drinks or more per week for men"

heavy drinking, which is regarded as 4 drinks or more per week for women and 21 drinks or more per week for men

This is British (I think), it was published in the British Medical Journal, so they might have different standards, and probably a different definition of "drink" in terms of ounces of alcohol, but I doubt very much that women (on average) have only 4/21 = 19% of the alcohol tolerance that men do.

(I'm sure this is a mistake by the writer of the article, not a flaw in the study).

What I've usually seen in the U.S. media is heavy drinking is 4 or more drinks on one occasion for women and 5 or more for men.

And 8 or more drinks a week for women, and 15 or more per week for men -- this sentence comes from http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/health/heavy-drinking-definition/ which cites the CDC

[Demit]

6. It was 14 drinks, you're right.

I thought it was weird too. Though even that's a huge difference. http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.g7772

[progree]

12. Thanks for the study's link

Last edited Mon Jan 19, 2015, 01:35 PM - Edit history (1)

Risky alcohol use, defined for example, as more than 14 drinks/week among women and more than 21 drinks/week among men,5 6 7

5. ?International Centre for Alcohol Policies. International drinking guidelines, 2010.

6. ?United States Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010. US Government Printing Office, 2010.

7. ?National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Alcohol-use disorders: preventing the development of hazardous and harmful drinking. NICE, 2010.

http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.g7772

I've never seen weekly numbers as high as this for defining the threshold of problem drinking -- maybe they use 0.5 oz alcohol per drink instead of 0.6 oz alcohol per drink -- there seems to be two very common definitions of "drink" at least in the U.S. Though that doesn't explain all the difference from the above weekly 14 women | 21 men and 8 women | 15 men.

[deutsey]

3. “You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that"

George Bush to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005

[nilesobek]

4. If you work two jobs like I do you don't really get a day off.

I can be mildly drunk on one of my jobs but the other one is too dangerous. And you got to drink fast because you have to go back to work in a few hours. I'm doing this right now. I'll drink, get a couple hours sleep, go back to work.

[Sunlei]

9. I hope you don't drive to work.

I've worked 2 jobs, 7 days a week for years. I'm more careless at work without enough sleep.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "working consistently for longer hours is never good for the health"

Why any researcher or writer would couch terms is why the world, and more notably, this country is in the condition that it is in. It is COMMON SENSE. For anyone to scratch their heads when looking at the data is just sad. The easiest "preventive" measure is the most obvious solution -

REDUCE WORKING HOURS.

This may address a significant portion but obviously not all, as individuals have unique circumstances in their lives that may also contribute.

The Post WWI "Temperance Movement" in the U.S. that successfully promoted the 18th Amendment, which eventually went way too far, was an attempt to address the severe alcoholism due in part to guess what?

[Trillo]

7. Alcohol is the poor person's pain killer.

That's what it was used for back in 1800s, and still is today. This sentence is a riot:

The workplace is an important setting for the prevention of alcohol misuse,

What happened to the days when you could go to work, do your work, and get paid, and not be part of a crusade against something completely unrelated to your workplace activities? Why do employers feel the need to control your off hours time while at the same time refusing to pay for those hours?

[progree]

13. "Why do employers feel the need to control your off hours time while at the same time refusing to

pay for those hours?"

It's getting worse. A lot worse:

Coming soon to a workplace near you: 'wellness or else', Reuters, 1/13/15
http://news.yahoo.com/coming-soon-workplace-near-wellness-else-120801472.html

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies are increasingly penalizing workers who decline to join "wellness" programs

...For some companies, however, just signing up for a wellness program isn't enough. They're linking financial incentives to specific goals such as losing weight, reducing cholesterol, or keeping blood glucose under control. The number of businesses imposing such outcomes-based wellness plans is expected to double this year to 46 percent, the survey found.

"Wellness-or-else is the trend," said workplace consultant Jon Robison of Salveo Partners.

... At Honeywell International, for instance, employees who decline company-specified medical screenings pay $500 more a year in premiums and lose out on a company contribution of $250 to $1,500 a year (depending on salary and spousal coverage) to defray out-of-pocket costs.

... Using the same argument, the EEOC also sued Wisconsin-based Orion Energy Systems, where an employee who declined to undergo screening by clinic workers the company hired was told she would have to pay the full $5,000 annual insurance premium.

.... Lockheed Martin, provided hundreds of dollars per year to each worker to help defray insurance deductibles. Since it implemented its new wellness program, workers must now earn that contribution by, among other things, quitting smoking (something non-smokers can't do) and racking up steps on a company-supplied pedometer.

"Basically, if you don't participate in these programs, you have to pay something like $1,000 out of pocket for healthcare before insurance kicks in," said Jill.

... Lori, for instance, an employee at Pittsburgh-based health insurer Highmark, is paying $4,200 a year more for her family benefits because she declined to answer a health questionnaire or submit to company-run screenings for smoking, blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

[bemildred]

8. Stress kills. nt

[olddad56]

11. Amen to that....

My beautiful loving sweetheart of the past 9 years worked in a stressful job 3 days a week. Then about a year ago, she took on an additional 2 day a week job at another facility because she needed the extra income. The stress of both jobs left her exhausted by the end of the week.

Last Wednesday, this wonderful woman of 57 years, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack.

My life will never be the same.

God bless her soul.

[bemildred]

17. Yep. That's what I mean.

Please accept my condolences.

[Sunlei]

10. it's an addictive substance and many people get physically ill if they try to stop

Drinking is also expensive and some people may not have to work 2 jobs if they didn't drink so much.

This is a "weird study" without any common sense.

[rocktivity]

14. Candidate for this year's "You Call this NEWS?" Awards

The "To Figure This Out, You Had To Do A Freaking STUDY?" category.


rocktivity

[Demeter]

15. I could never find the time, or the energy, to drink

I was usually unconscious without benefit of imbibing whenever I had a break.

[Javaman]

16. or take meth in hopes of keeping up the pace. nt

[YOHABLO]

18. Why can't we have jobs that pay enough that we don't have to work two to get by?

Alcohol is a drug .. it relaxes you and rids you of temporary pain. That is until you become addicted, then let let the games begin.

[graegoyle]

19. Study shows:

Not making a living wage from working at a single job increases tendencies to binge drinking by 11%.