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The association between BMI and haemoglobin and work productivity among Indonesian female factory workers

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and work productivity in Indonesian female industrial workers engaged in cigarette rolling.

Design: Randomized-stratified, cross-sectional study.

Setting: A clove cigarette factory in Central Java Province, Indonesia.

Subjects: Two-hundred and thirty female cigarette-rollers.

Methods: Anthropometric variables (height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference, BMI), body composition (lean body mass and fat mass from skinfolds thicknesses), Hb, work productivity (cigarettes/hour) were determined.

Results: Of the 230 selected subjects 40.4% were anaemic and 41.3% had BMI<18.5. Average production was 620±86 cigarettes/h. Productivity was positively correlated with work experience (r=0.214, P<0.01), lean body mass (r=0.183, P<0.01), height (r=0.150, P<0.05), Hb (r=0.141, P<0.05), and arm muscle area (r=0.120, P<0.05). Anaemic subjects produced 4.9% less (P<0.01) than the non-anaemic ones. No linear relationship existed between BMI and productivity, but subjects with a BMI <18.5, or <17.0, produced respectively 5.1% (P<0.05) and 6.8% (P<0.05) less than subjects with BMI between 18.5–22.5.

Conclusions: Work productivity of persons with low BMI and Hb may be reduced. However, BMI was not a good screening tool to detect low producers. When using BMI <18.5 and a production <550 cigarettes/h as cut-offs sensitivity (64.7%) and specificity (55.5%) were low.

Sponsorship: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH–SEAMEO TROPMED Jakarta.

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Untoro, J., Gross, R., Schultink, W. et al. The association between BMI and haemoglobin and work productivity among Indonesian female factory workers. Eur J Clin Nutr 52, 131–135 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600527

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600527

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