Affiliations: Department of Public Policies and Collective Health, Institute of Health and Society, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Santos, São Paulo, Brazil | Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, State
University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil | Nutrition in Foodservice Research Nucleus (NUPPRE),
Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC),
Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil | Nutrition and Metabolism, Departament of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of
São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Note: [] Corresponding author: Maria Angélica Tavares de Medeiros, University of São Paulo, 95, Ana Costa Avenue, Vila Mathias, 11060-001, Santos, SP, Brazil. Tel.: +55 13 3788 3731; Fax: +55 13 3788 3731; E-mail: angelica.medeiros@unifesp.br
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Nutritional aspects are important for the prevention of
diseases and disorders, and few studies have focused on the relationship
between risk of work injury and nutritional variables. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to verify whether nutritional variables constitute risk factors for
work-related accidents. PARTICIPANTS: 1,422 industrial workers (600 cases
plus 822 controls). METHODS: A case-control study was carried out in an
industrial city in south-east Brazil. A multiple logistic regression model was
adjusted using work-related accidents as the response variable and nutritional
variables as predictors. The associations were assessed by Odds Ratio
(OR), with a p-value < 0.05. RESULTS: 47.29% of the workers
were overweight or obese. Protective factors for work-related accidents were
(a) attending formal education for an above average number of years (OR=0.91, p< 0.0001) and (b) eating a traditional dinner (OR=0.67,
p=0.0087). Risks factors were (a) hard physical effort in the workplace (OR=1.37, p< 0.0001), (b) having lunch in the workplace (OR=1.57,
p<0.0001) and (c) receiving government benefits in the form of food stamps (OR=1.39, p=0.0350) or food baskets (OR=1.30, p=0.0414). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest an association between nutritional variables
and work-related accidents. This indicates the need, during the formulation of
policies for these kinds of government benefits, to include nutrition aspects
in order to minimize work-related accidents risks.
