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Working outdoors in the fresh air, eating good food and getting exercise through farm work – most farmers believe they have a healthy lifestyle, but research has shown that this is far from the truth.
“There is a huge disparity between what farmers think and the reality,” Teagasc’s health and safety specialist John McNamara told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“Lots of farmers are overweight and while they do get exercise on the farm, it’s not cardiovascular exercise,” he explained. “And farmers tend to be slow about going for health check-ups.”
Several studies conducted in recent years have highlighted the reality of farmers’ health.
Farmers and agricultural workers in Ireland have the highest mortality of all socio-economic groupings
Dr Breda Smyth’s 2012 research found that Irish farmers aged 16 to 65 have five times more circulatory disease and three times the cancer incidence of blue collar workers. They are also seven times more likely to be injured.
Farmers and agricultural workers in Ireland have the highest mortality of all socio-economic groupings (SEGs) and are seven times more likely to die of circulatory disease than salaried employees, the lowest SEG.
High blood pressure
A study by Diana Von Droon in Carlow IT revealed that based on health screening farmers at four marts in Ireland, the vast majority (83%) of farmers had at least four risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Of the 310 farmers sampled in marts in counties Longford, Cavan, Mayo and Cork, almost half (140) farmers had high blood pressure and 46% (140 farmers) had high cholesterol.
More than one-third (110) of the farmers were found to be obese.
Other speakers include Dr Noel Richardson, director for the Centre for Men’s Health at the Institute of Technology Carlow.
Teagasc and IT Carlow plan to commence a four-year PhD Walsh Fellowship study aimed at promoting farmer health improvement later in 2017, in collaboration with UCD.
Tuesday’s seminar takes place between 2pm and 5pm and is open to the public free of charge. Booking is required by email to john.g.mcnamara@teagasc.ie
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