Daily Health News Blog

People who spend hours each day without getting up and moving around should take heed: A new study suggests that the more people sit each day, the greater their risk for chronic health problems, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Researchers from Australia and Kansas State University said their findings have implications for office workers, truck drivers and other people who regularly sit for long periods of time. To reduce the risk of chronic disease, the study authors concluded that people should sit less, and move more. "We know that with very high confidence that more physically active people do better with regard to chronic disease compared with less physically active people, but we should also be looking at reducing sitting," Richard Rosenkranz, assistant professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, said in a university news release. "A lot of office jobs that require long periods of sitting may be hazardous to your health because of i

Early in the 20th century, only one in seven women were employed outside the home. Today, most women work, with women constituting 47% of the labor force. A consequence of this is that women are now exposed to many workplace hazards, including occupational stress. Occupational (or job) stress is a prevalent problem in the United States, with between a third to nearly a half of workers routinely reporting high levels of job stress. Certain job conditions have been well-established as stressors. These include heavy workload demands, little control over work, unclear or conflicting job roles, poor relationships with coworkers and supervisors, and unchallenging, repetitive, or monotonous work. Women experience additional job stressors that may affect men to a lesser degree. Since women often have primary responsibility for children and household chores, achieving an acceptable work-family balance can be challenging.  In some jobs in which women predominate, such as nursing and customer