Obesity and health in the North American Fire Service: research points the way to positive culture change

There are more than 1 million firefighters throughout the USA and Canada who are exposed to multiple dangers as they perform their vital duties protecting our communities. The current virtual issue in Occupational Medicine highlights selected firefighter research published over the last 6 years in the journal. These papers reflect the three highest priority health concerns of the current North American Fire Service: cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and behavioural health issues. While each of these three issues seems discrete and disconnected, there are important ways in which these very different problems interrelate. Each challenge is connected in some way to the obesity epidemic and to the predominant fire service culture, which includes inadequate physical activity (PA) and suboptimal fitness levels and too often, a reliance on over-eating, binge drinking and oral tobacco for stress-relief. Nonetheless, firefighters are making substantial progress in combating these health issues by implementing comprehensive wellness programmes and gradually changing their culture in positive ways.

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