Clinical & Experimental Cardiology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9880
ISSN: 2155-9880
K Thirugnanasambantham and Lalitha Ramaswamy
Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration-MAHE, India
PSG College of Arts & Science, India
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Clin Exp Cardiolog
The workforce in Indian hospitality industry is close to four million with nearly half working in more than 130,000 hotels and motels, 5% of which are classified as star hotels. Formerly, occupational health was related more on physical and chemical hazards that are specific to occupational setting. Limited attention was given on cardiovascular and other noncommunicable diseases that are often thought to be connected with the lifestyle of a person rather than her/his occupation. This is true for hospitality despite being an industry that produces and/or serves food including fast food that is linked to obesity and other health issues. Prolonged disease risk factors among hotel employees need to be studied and this study one such effort to understand the present status of well-being among the employees of hotels. Observational study design was planned with 25 hotel employees of all the operational departments of the hotel in the age group of 20-60 years working in hotel of Udupi district, Karnataka as a part of pilot study. Data was collected using interview method with a structured questionnaire. Data pertaining to sociodemographic data, medical history, family history, life style practices, stress, sleep patterns, history of diabetes, symptoms of inflammation and pain physical activity, dietary recall (24 hours recall), food frequency, lifestyle habits was collected using interview method. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical assessment was conducted by experts with necessary precautions. The data was coded and analyzed using SPSS (v. 16.0). Results indicated a presence of various risk factors of CVD like smoking; both active and passive, inadequate sleep, dietary errors among hotel employees. Exposure to pollutants which promotes free radical damage was also reported. This accentuates the need for interventional strategies to promote healthy lifestyle among hotel employees thereby reducing the risk of fatal complications of CVD.
K Thirugnanasambantham has over 27 years of experience in industry and academia. He did his graduation from PSG Arts and Science College, Coimbatore from 1985 to 1988. Later, he pursued Catering from IHM Chennai. Subsequently started working as Hotel Operations Management Trainee in Taj Coromendel Hotel. During his tenure at Taj, he worked in one of the India’s finest restaurant “The Patio”. He has worked for 6 ½ years in Taj Group of Hotels. Later he worked with Food Processing Industry.
E-mail: kthiru055@gmail.com