This week (25 to 30 June) is World Continence Week, an initiative organised by the International Continence Society and coordinated in Australia by the Continence Foundation of Australia (CFA).

It was created to raise awareness about this issue and inform both those in the workforce and the wider community of the problems it can cause.

To coincide with World Continence Week, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released a report on 21 June that demonstrates incontinence can have a substantial impact on the health and wellbeing of those in the workforce.

Research published in 'Tobacco Control' has revealed that employees who smoke cost their companies much more than their non-smoking counterparts.

There are higher levels of absenteeism among smokers, as well as marked losses in productivity due to regular "smoke breaks", than their are in non-smokers.

Because of this, smokers can set their employers back by up to $5,816 more than their non-smoking co-workers each and every year.

The Council of Australian Governments’ Reform Council revealed on Friday (May 24) that the number of obese and overweight Australians has risen by two per cent in the last four years.

This statistic has not come as a surprise to the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), who believe our "toxic" food environment is to blame.

"Only seven in 20 Australian adults are in the healthy weight range", says PHAA president Heather Yeatman.

Workers from around the world will today (May 23) begin a 16-week challenge to improve their health and lifestyle habits.

The Global Corporate Challenge (GCC) is now in its tenth year and will see 260,000 employees from more than 1,300 organisations located in 110 countries taking part.

The challenge involves a little friendly competition between co-workers and other organisations to step-up their daily activity levels. Its goal is to help workers improve their health and lifestyle habits, which will, in turn, create a healthier and more competitive workforce.

Professor Mike Daube, a leading anti-tobacco campaigner, has today (May 17) revealed a 10-point plan that could see Australia being completely smoke-free within 15 years.

This plan was part of a paper, titled A Smoke-Free Australia: How Do We Get There?, which was presented at the Heart Foundation Conference this morning. This is a three-day event that is currently underway in Adelaide.

Anxiety is a more common mental health disorder in Australia than you might think, especially in the workplace.

Recent research conducted by Roy Morgan reveals that 13.8 per cent of all Australians aged 18 and over suffer from anxiety. That's 2.44 million people.

Worryingly, this number represents an increase in the number of people experiencing anxiety attacks. In 2008, only 9.9 per cent of the population reported suffering from this condition.

Every year, more than a quarter of a million Australians are being driven to quit the workforce prematurely because of debilitating back and arthritic pain.

This shocking statistic was revealed by Andrew McNamara, chief executive of The Chiropractors' Association of Australia, in a May 1 statement.

Mr McNamara said that retirements due to recurring medical problems are a "major setback to our nation’s productivity, with the government taking a $2.9 billion loss to GDP and an extra $1 billion in welfare payments and loss of tax income annually."

The National Stroke Foundation and The Pharmacy Guild of Australia are launching a campaign to combat "the silent killer" - high blood pressure.

"Nearly four million Australians over 25 have high blood pressure but many do not know their blood pressure numbers," stated Dr Erin Lalor, chief executive officer of the National Stroke Foundation.

Health check stations will be set up around Victoria between May 13 and 19 to remedy this, offering people the chance to take a questionnaire and determine their current blood pressure.

David Davis, Victoria's health minister, received a flu shot on Thursday (April 18) and is encouraging others in the workforce to follow suit.

There have already been 2,540 reported cases of the flu in Australia this year, which is a considerable jump on last year's total of 1,850 for the same time period.

“Every year," Mr Davis said, "thousands of people contract the flu and this has a huge impact not only on themselves but on their family, friends, colleagues and ultimately their workplace".

Young women who are sleep deprived are more likely to develop depression, claims Victoria University professor Dorothy Bruck.

According to depressioNET.org.au, around 85 per cent of people diagnosed with depression also suffer from insomnia. While this is a bit of a "chicken-and-egg" problem, it's evident that there is a correlation between the two conditions. 

Professor Bruck, who presented a paper at last week's inaugural APS Health Psychology Conference in Cairns, researched this issue extensively from 2000 to 2009.