ArticleInternational journal of obesity (2005)2021
Effects of increased body mass index on employment status: a Mendelian randomisation study.
Article in International journal of obesity (2005), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Obesity, Employment, and Economic Productivity in Europe: A Systematic Literature Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Associations between Type of Bariatric Surgery and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, Employment Outcomes, and Body Image Satisfaction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Obesity facts · 2025Pooled it
- Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Atrial Fibrillation: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.Annals of noninvasive electrocardiology : the official journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc · 2026Article
- Does Weight Loss Translate to Workplace Gains? Results of an Employment Questionnaire in Adults With Prediabetes and Overweight or Obesity.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2026Article
- Impact of bariatric surgery on monthly earnings and employment: a national linked data study in England, 2014-2022.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Observational
- Estimating the causal effect of cardiometabolic conditions on socioeconomic and healthcare outcomes: a scoping review of Mendelian randomization studies.Health economics review · 2026Article
- The Impact of Internet and Mobile Phone Usage and Unemployment on Adult Obesity: Empirical Evidence from the BRICS States.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Food insecurity is associated with metabolic syndrome among US adults: NHANES 2005-2016.Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- The association of obesity-related traits on COVID-19 severity and hospitalization is affected by socio-economic status: a multivariable Mendelian randomization study.International journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Effects of depression on employment and social outcomes: a Mendelian randomisation study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2022Article
- Obesity- attributable costs of absenteeism among working adults in Portugal.BMC public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe obesity epidemic may have substantial implications for the global workforce, including causal effects on employment, but clear evidence is lacking. Obesity may prevent people from being in paid work through poor health or through social discrimination. We studied genetic variants robustly associated with body mass index (BMI) to investigate its causal effects on employment. DATASET/
methodsWhite UK ethnicity participants of working age (men 40-64 years, women 40-59 years), with suitable genetic data were selected in the UK Biobank study (N = 230,791). Employment status was categorised in two ways: first, contrasting being in paid employment with any other status; and second, contrasting being in paid employment with sickness/disability, unemployment, early retirement and caring for home/family. Socioeconomic indicators also investigated were hours worked, household income, educational attainment and Townsend deprivation index (TDI). We conducted observational and two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses to investigate the effect of increased BMI on employment-related outcomes.
resultsRegressions showed BMI associated with all the employment-related outcomes investigated. MR analyses provided evidence for higher BMI causing increased risk of sickness/disability (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.04, 1.11, per 1 Kg/m DISCUSSION: BMI appears to exert a causal effect on employment status, largely by affecting an individual's health rather than through increased unemployment arising from social discrimination. The obesity epidemic may be contributing to increased worklessness and therefore could impose a substantial societal burden.
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Registered trials
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