Objective. Obesity-dependent diseases cause economic burden to companies. Large-scale data for working populations are lacking. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Employee cohort and the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cardiometabolic risk factors and diseases were estimated. Design and Methods. Employees (≥38 years, employed in Ingelheim ≥2 years; ) of BI Pharma GmbH & Co. KG were invited by the medical corporate department to participate in intensive health checkups. Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data collected through 2006–2011 was performed. Results. 90% of eligible subjects participated ( ). Prevalences of overweight and obesity were 40% and 18% and significantly higher in men and participants ≥50 years. Cardiometabolic risk factor levels and prevalences of cardiometabolic diseases significantly increased with BMI and were higher in overweight and obese participants. Cut-points for increased risk estimated from ROC curves were ≈25？kg/m2 for hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, arteriosclerosis, and hypertriglyceridemia and 26.7–28.0？kg/m2 for the metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, increased intima media thickness, and type 2 diabetes. Conclusion. This is the first large-scale occupational health care cohort from a single company. Cardiometabolic risk factors and diseases accumulate with increasing BMI. Occupational weight reduction programs seem to be reasonable strategies. 1. Introduction Over the last two decades, the prevalence of obesity has risen worldwide. Data from epidemiological studies indicate a high percentage of obese and overweight subjects in the German population compared to other countries in Western and Middle Europe, in particular, among men [1]. As obesity is an important risk factor for a number of cardiometabolic diseases, its increasing prevalence provokes substantial health and economic burden not only to society but also to companies by generating costs for nonproductive time and early retirement [2]. However, valid and representative data about prevalence of overweight, obesity, and the connected cardiovascular risk in the German operational medicine are lacking so far. The Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Employee occupational health care cohort should bridge this gap. The BI medical corporate department offered the prevention and health care program “FIT IM LEBEN-FIT IM JOB” with intensive health checkups for free and advices for lifestyle changes. Aim of this analysis was to estimate (1) the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the baseline
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