Health behavior among working adults: Workload and exhaustion are associated with nutrition and physical activity behaviors that lead to weight gain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between workload, exhaustion, and key health behaviors for weight loss—nutrition and physical activity. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the path coefficients in a sample of 953 employed adults. The results show that workload and exhaustion were positively related to emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and percent of calories from fat. In addition, exhaustion was negatively related to physical activity levels. Workload and exhaustion are associated with nutrition and physical activity behaviors that promote weight gain and should be considered in weight management interventions for working adults.