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.