8 Jobs that Can Harm Your Heart

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Eight professions are among the most challenging to a person’s heart health—salesperson, administrative support staff, police officers and firefighters, transportation/material movers, a grocery/consumer store employee—according to new research, CNN reports.

American Heart Association researchers studies health habits of over 5,500 people age 45 or older who did not have a history of heart disease or stroke.

The habits include: blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, fitness levels, diet, smoking, and obesity.

Most salespeople surveyed were determined to have poor eating habits (68%) and poor cholesterol levels (69%).

Of administrative staff, less than 21% met recommended physical activity standards.

Despite the fitness standards of many police and fire departments, 90% were found to be obese or overweight; 77% had high cholesterol and 35% had high blood pressure.

Working in grocery/consumer stores led to poor diets among many of those surveyed. Nearly 80% of this group reported having poor dietary habits.

“When people have no autonomy and everything in their workday is constrained, that can be hard on your health,” said Dr. Sharonne Hayes, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

See all eight jobs.

Need help to kick the smoking habit?

Smoking still is a major health concern for transportation/material movers. While the vast majority of Americans have stopped the habit, nearly 25% of the members of this profession surveyed still smoke regularly. This was the largest number in any group surveyed.

Fortunately, Quitxt can help!

Quitxt is a bilingual service from the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas that sends texts messages to smartphones to help South Texas adults quit smoking. Messages help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, handling stress, and using nicotine replacement, if needed.

To join Quitxt in English, text “iquit” to 844-332-2058.

For Spanish, text “lodejo” to 844-332-2058.

More than 1 in 5 Quitxt users fully quit smoking after completing the English version of the program, according to a 2017 study.

“There’s no better time than now to stop smoking with help from Quitxt,” said Dr. Amelie Ramirez of the IHPR at UT Health San Antonio. “Quitting smoking is proven to improve your health, increase your life span, and save money.”