The Irish worker: sleep deprived, cash strapped but sober

Irish workers are deprived of sleep and strapped for cash but surprisingly sober – and men who work in the media are most likely to be obese, according to exhaustive research published this morning.

Laya Healthcare collated data from 13,266 health screenings and found that almost 80 per cent of Irish employees said they were suffering from lack of sleep, 24 per cent said they regularly struggled financially from pay day to pay day, and 53 per cent said they experienced "general anxiety" at least some of the time. Eighty per cent said a lack of sleep had affected their energy and mood in the past month; 18 per cent said sleep deprivation was affecting them a lot.

The survey found that 19 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women were clinically obese. At 24 per cent, men working in media were the category most likely to be obese, followed by manufacturing, at 22 per cent, and medical and pharmaceutical workers, at 21 per cent.

People working in construction, security and manufacturing had the highest blood pressure.

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Most employees claimed to stay within the recommended weekly alcohol limits of 17 standard drinks for men and 11 for women; a standard drink is a measure of spirits, a small glass of wine or half a pint of beer. Less than 1 per cent of men admitted to drinking more than 17 standard drinks a week.

The findings combine the results of 6,993 physical screenings and 6,273 health and wellbeing assessments.