Abstract
The presence of lifestyle related coronary risk factors among South African business executives
The general health status of an employee often displays a direct relationship with his productivity. This phenomenon, to a large extent, initiated the trend in several companies to provide the so-called “employeesupporter programmes" which concentrate on a holistic approach towards total well-being. The lifestyle of the South African executive is to a large extent destructive of health and total well-being. In many cases this leads to premature retirement, serious illnesses and even death. Executives (388) of 20 companies representing the mining, steel, construction, financial and motor industry, were evaluated for the purpose of this article. The mean age of the respondents was 44,6 ± 0.6 years. In 74,3% of the cases a low physical working capacity was found (<2,5 Watt kg-1), while 4,6% of the executives showed a percentage body fat of >20% which is regarded as a coronary risk factor. In 38,7% a n d 58,2% of the cases elevated systolic a n d diastolic blood pressure values were respectively found. The following amount of respondents showed elevated values with regard to the biochemical parameters: total cholesterol(69,5%), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (64,8%), triglycerides (24,1%) and total cholesterol/HDL ratio (77,0%). In 42,2% of the cases an abnormally low level of high density lipoprotein was found.
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