Eyes glued to the screens, slogging for long hours and mindless munching have become characteristic traits of an IT professional. While travails of their sedentary lives are no news, doctors have time and again flagged health concerns around their lifestyle.
Dealing with work-related stress, inadequate sleep, keeping up with shifts, while increasing intake of high-calorie diet, sugary beverages and a lack of physical activity could fuel the risk of several non-communicable diseases, including a fatty liver disease called Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD), researchers caution.
A new study by researchers at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) and Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) has revealed that about 84 per cent of IT employees have MAFLD. Fatty liver occurs when more than 5 per cent of fat builds up in the liver due to various behavioural and metabolic risk factors as highlighted above. The condition, if left unchecked, can progress to severe forms of liver diseases like cirrhosis and cancer requiring liver transplantation.
Sampling details
The study was conducted by UoH professors Kalyankar Mahadev and C T Anitha, along with their research scholars Bharam Bhargava and Nanditha Pramod, in collaboration with senior hepatologist PN Rao and his team from the AIG hospital.
The study roped in 345 IT professionals in the age group of 30-60 years in Hyderabad and subjected them to a batter of tests, which include lipid profile, Body Mass Index, liver scan. They include 294 men and 51 women.
“The prevalence of fatty liver far exceeds the levels in general population (32 per cent) and those with diabetes (50 per cent),” said Mahadev.
The study also found that about 71 per cent of IT employees were obese and about 34 per cent of them had metabolic syndrome – a cluster of diseased conditions that increase the risk of fatty liver, obesity, diabetes, and increased blood pressure.
Holding accountable
The IT industry in India employs over 5.4 million people. Though known for getting fat pay cheques, IT employees are required to slog in order to meet the strict project delivery deadlines.
The study felt that the industry should focus on devising strategies to improve the health conditions of their employees. It asked the employees to take advantage of the facilities provided by their employers to improve their physical well-being.
“Regular and periodic health check-ups and screening for fatty liver along with proper work-life balance and stress management programmes might help in reducing the incidence of fatty liver,” it said.
This study was funded by the Institution of Eminence (IoE) Programme of the Union Ministry of Education. The research work has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal – Scientific Reports by Nature.
