Office workers are among the unhealthiest group of people in the labor market as the nature of the role means that many employees have bad health habits. The stress, long hours, and sedentary nature of your modern office job are sucking the life out of you — literally. And it’s not just the tight deadlines, stress-eaten doughnuts, and sneezing co-workers that are doing you in. Even your keyboard can be out to get you.
However, there are measures that can be taken by your staff to help reduce their risk and things that employers themselves can do to help support their employees. From the printer to your supervisor, the dangers presented in a typical office can have real effects on your physical well-being and mental health. Read below the 5 major health problems and how to overcome those.
- Sitting all day could shave years off your life – Take a two-minute break at least twice an hour, change your position every eight minutes, also take up some yoga class or spend time for physical activities.
- Skipping meals/eating junk food increases the risk of heart disease – Eat your breakfast within 2 hours of waking up and also include fruits and vegetables on at least half of the plate at each meal.
- Working more/odd hours causes weight gain and increases stress hormone – Get a minimum of 6-8 hours of sleep at night.
- Staring at computer screens harms vision and causes headaches and migraines – Rest your eyes frequently by looking away from your screen, increase the font size, you may also switch the text on your screen to white with the black background.
- Typing too much/overuse of smartphone leads to carpal tunnel syndrome – Stretching and other exercises may help release tension in the wrist.