Why Labor Day Matters for Health

The Labor Day holiday weekend has come to symbolize the end of summer. But the reason it was established was to celebrate American workers and the importance of their work. While it’s nice to have a three-day weekend to relax and rejuvenate, we’d like to explain why it’s also important to our health.

According to Gallup, the average adult works more than 40 hours per week. Long workweeks without adequate rest can damage Americans’ health. For example, the European Heart Journal published a study in 2010 showing that people who reported working more than 10 hours a day had the highest risk of coronary heart disease. Long work hours also may lead to stress, which can cause health issues like obesity, depression and high blood pressure, among others.

Along with harming individual’s personal health, these chronic health conditions can lead to high costs for the U.S. health care system. According to the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, Americans spend almost twice as much on health care than people in other advanced countries, yet we still have more injuries and illnesses.

And whether it is a complication from a chronic condition or a seasonal cold, Americans continue to show up sick to work. This is known as “presenteeism,” a term used to describe employees with health conditions who are at work but unable to perform at full capacity. Health-related presenteeism has a larger impact on lost productivity than absenteeism, according to peer-reviewed research sponsored by the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) and published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2009.

“The study found that when considering medical and drug costs alone, the top five conditions driving costs are cancer (other than skin cancer), back/neck pain, coronary heart disease, chronic pain, and high cholesterol,” as NPC explained when the research was published. “But when health-related productivity costs are measured along with medical and pharmacy costs, the top five chronic health conditions driving these overall health costs shift significantly, to depression, obesity, arthritis, back/neck pain and anxiety.” As a result, when employers focus on medical and pharmacy costs alone, they may miss an opportunity to address these potentially much more impactful conditions.

So as we enjoy Labor Day, let’s remember to take a deep breath, relax and to take care of our own health. It’s not only good for us, but it’s good for all of us. Yet another reason to celebrate the American worker.

To learn more about  health and productivity, be sure to check out NPC’s website.