Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To ascertain worker health characteristics and psychosocial factors associated with changes in body weight and total cholesterol (TC) among two production operation populations. METHODS: We performed descriptive and predictive analysis of questionnaire data and biomedical measurements from two prospective cohort studies. Our key outcomes were changes in weight, and TC over 5 to 10 years between baseline and exit assessments. RESULTS: A total of 146 subjects were analyzed. Increases in weight were associated with belief in being overweight and baseline overweight and obesity. Increases in TC levels were associated with female sex, belief that TC levels were "not good," and feeling depressed. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the reported associations with increases in weight and TC levels are amenable to interventions and may be a target for workplace intervention programs.