SPA132 | HEALTH AND SAFETY PROMOTION: A NUTRITIONAL APPROACH TO PREVENTING CARDIOVASCULAR-METABOLIC RISK IN TRANSIT BUS DRIVERS

INTRODUCTION: Bus drivers represent a category in which individual health status directly affects collective operational safety. Shift work, sedentary behavior, high levels of responsibility, and irregular eating patterns constitute high-risk factors for metabolic syndrome, chronic inflammation, and increased cardiovascular risk, with repercussions for fitness to drive. In this context, nutrition represents a strategic lever for integrated prevention. Occupational medicine can play a role not only through periodic fitness assessments, but also through a proactive model of health promotion in which targeted lifestyle interventions, including diet, assume a central role. OBJECTIVES: To assess health status, particularly metabolic-cardiovascular risk, and lifestyles among bus drivers within the LAINBIO - Work and Biological Aging project, in order to identify targeted health promotion strategies that can be integrated into health surveillance. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study of bus drivers undergoing health surveillance (DM 88/99), within a structured protocol. Specifically, demographic, occupational, and lifestyle data were collected (smoking, alcohol, physical activity, shift organization). Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, and blood chemistry tests related to metabolic and cardiovascular risk were also recorded. Eating patterns were assessed using a structured 16-item questionnaire designed to analyze meal quality, regularity, and organization in relation to the work context. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The study population includes over 100 transit bus drivers (24–67 years; mean age 50 years), predominantly male (90%). Mean body mass index is 28kg/m2, with approximately 45% of participants overweight and almost 30% obese. 50% report cigarette smoking and sedentary behavior, while over 40% have diseases, predominantly cardiovascular (30%) and endocrine-metabolic (25%). Approximately 30% show moderate-to-high cardiovascular risk. The results highlight a significant prevalence of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders in a working population of strategic importance for public safety. The evidence of heterogeneous behaviors and the problems identified in dietary habits, particularly in meal selection and organization in relation to the work context, represent a priority target for intervention. Integrating targeted educational tools and personalized nutritional programs into health surveillance constitutes a sustainable and replicable approach to preventing cardiovascular and metabolic risk. This strategy may contribute not only to improving workers’ health status, but also to maintaining fitness to drive and strengthening operational safety in public transport.