Small scale assessment of anthropometric parameters and cardiorespiratory fitness in female bakery workers of Palpa, Nepal

Abstract

Background: In recent years bakery industries are one of the fastest growing small agro industries creating impact of daily life of Palpa district. Female bakery workers of Palpla district, face some extreme condition like working on hot environment creating by furnace, inhalation of flour dust etc that leads to make them challenging, which prompted us to assess occupational cardio respiratory health status of these bakery workers. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in Palpa district of Nepal. 24 female bakery workers Age: 25 35 years were chosen and they involved in this occupation since more than one year. 18 healthy female subjects of same age group, mostly working as house wife were chosen as control subjects were recruited for the study from the same locality. Different physical, anthropometric and physiological parameters were studied according to standard procedure. Students t test was performed to find out the significant difference (P 0.05), if any, between the selected variables. Results: Results of this study on female bakery workers suggest that they are physically healthy but having poor cardio respiratory fitness. Conclusion: In this small scale study, the female bakery workers of Palpa district suffering from heat stress and chronic pulmonary obstructions. To develop an effective intervention strategy, the treatment seeking behavior of individuals would also need to be improved through awareness program.