Unfit men working long hours in greater need of healthcare plan

A new study has suggested that middle-aged men with low levels of physical fitness may be in greater need of a healthcare plan if they work long hours.

This is because they are at greater risk of suffering from heart disease, researchers from the National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Denmark found.

Their study, published in the journal Heart, looked at data for almost 5,000 men aged between 40 and 59 over a 30-year period.

They assessed their fitness levels and recorded the number of hours they worked using questionnaires.

It was found that those that were the least fit and worked more than 45 hours a week were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease than those who worked under 40 hours.

However, long working hours seemed to have no such affect on men with better fitness levels.

Commenting on the study, Cathy Ross, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, told the Guardian: "Being physically active helps to control your blood pressure and previous studies have shown that being physically fit can help you cope with the demands of long hours, physically demanding jobs and shift work."

According to figures from the Trades Union Congress, Britons in full-time employment work an average of 43.6 hours a week, over three hours more than the EU average.

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