Part 1 - Zombie Truckers and Overlap Disease
In a recent ride along I saw firsthand the struggle with maintaining a healthy lifestyle while logging the miles necessary to earn a living and keep valuable freight moving across the country. Many drivers “live an unhealthy lifestyle of stress, poor diet, little sleep, and demanding work schedules “and are on the “road to becoming a living Zombie”
A 2014 survey of long-haul truck drivers by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that 69 percent were obese, 17 percent morbidly so. A recent Gallup-Healthways analysis revealed that transportation workers, including truckers, are the fattest and have the highest risk for chronic health problems of any occupational group. Considering the ramifications (heart attack, stroke, fatigue. . .), the 2.5 million trucks on U.S. roads just might be our biggest national safety threat.
Brown Dog Carriers is launching a series of blogs that will discuss driver health and strategies for improvement. We are partnering with Robert E. Cyr, DOS, CHHC, AADP, FSP a former truck driver who penned the book “Zombie Truckers” https://www.amazon.com/dp/1682132196/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Overlap Disease
During my ride along it became evident that much of a driver’s day is spent in the cab watching endless miles go by, interrupted occasionally by stops to deliver or pickup product and maybe a restaurant break. It is those endless miles in the cab that can lead to “overlap disease”.
To kill time many drivers, resort to “unhealthy snacking”. The empty calories from soda, candy bars and chips quickly add up and end on the waistline. Even worse, many drivers feel obligated to clean the plate at their local eatery or truck stop. Eventually, with time and the unhealthy habits, the driver develops “overlap disease” - a condition whereby the driver’s belly overlaps their belt and they cannot see their buckle.
Overlap disease is just a dark humor way of saying obese. Heart disease related to obesity is the number one killer of adults in the United States. In the most recent year of available statistics the CDC (Center for Disease Control) reported nearly 650,000 deaths from heart disease compared to 600,000 from cancer. Other causes of deaths (Pre-Covid) all came in under 200,000. The worst part of the leading cause of death is that it is 100% preventable. It is a choice everyone gets to make. Be healthy or not.
One simple idea is that food is fuel. And the engine is your body. If you are about to fill up the gas tank on your truck would you put standard gasoline in a diesel engine? Of course not, the result would be a seized engine costing thousands of dollars to repair. Would you fill your tank above the amount needed to be full resulting in gallons of fuel spilled on the pavement? Of course not. But that is exactly what you are doling when you put unhealthy foods and too much food in your body.
Early Signs of Overlap Disease
I am sure everyone has experienced a warning or check engine light glowing from the console. You know that there is now some mechanical issue that will need to be quickly addressed or you will be sitting on the side of the highway waiting for a wrecker to come and tow you to the shop. We have our own diagnostic warnings. Heartburn, feeling sluggish and breathing heavy after any exertion are warning signs of impending Overlap Disease. Pretty soon if you are not careful your clothes will start getting tight, you are loosening your belt and congratulations you have become a candidate for Overlap Disease.
How to Prevent Overlap Disease?
It is simple to prevent Overlap Disease. Stop eating too much bad food and start exercising. Easy? Nope. If it were, obesity, type 1 Diabetes, and death from heart disease would not be a national problem. It is tough to break bad habits and its tough not to enjoy calorie infused foods. But that does not mean we cannot have a strategy and a game plan. Over the next five blogs we will discuss strategies to combat Overlap Disease.
Next installment – You are What You Eat.