%0 Journal Article
%T Differences in Selected Health Traits between Occupational Groups among Oraons of Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal
%A Subrata K. Roy
%A Tanaya Kundu Chowdhury
%J Journal of Anthropology
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/582036
%X Occupational health deals with diseases or injuries caused due to work. Different types of work cause different types of ill-effect on health and may cause changes in health traits; empirical studies on the issues are scanty. The present study aims to investigate the differences in selected health traits between two occupational groups of the same ethnic origin. Cross-sectional data collected on 357 adult Oraon labourers engaged in two different occupations, namely, agriculture and brickfield in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, of which are 62 male and 43 female agricultural labourers and 136 male and 116 female brickfield labourers. Data consists of anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and haemoglobin traits. Health status assessed in terms of BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and haemoglobin level following standard cut-off values. Mean values of both the occupational groups show similar trends in case of selected anthropometric and health traits. Individuals are ecto-mesomorphic irrespective of sex and occupation. Majority of individuals of either sex of both the occupational groups are underweight but hypertensive. In anthropological data, the trend of mean values is important than mere statistical significance. Data indicates that both the occupational groups have similar health condition, maybe due to their heavy manual activity. 1. Introduction Occupation that generates income [1] plays a vital role in the well-being of individuals [2] engaged in jobs. But many working conditions create physical and mental stress that causes ill effects on health and enhance the chances of several infectious [3], communicable [4], and noncommunicable diseases [5, 6]. In view of the problems in different occupations and working environments, World Health Organization had taken a Global Strategy on Occupational Health for All by the Year 2000 [7]. India has also included occupational and environmental health as area of concern in the tenth five-year plan (2002¨C2007) [8]. In recent times, emphasis is given primarily on sedentary occupations which may enhance the chances of cardiovascular diseases [9], diabetes [10], and cancer [11]. Night shifting work can disturb biological clock and may have some ill effects on health [12] and increases the chances of cardiovascular diseases [13] and diabetes [14]. Heavy manual labour too can cause low back pain [15, 16], injuries [17], musculoskeletal problems [18], and so forth, to the workers. Workers at mining and quarry industries suffer from lung problems [19, 20] and hearing loss [21] due to their working
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/janthro/2013/582036/