Taking a Vacation good for the health

The slump in the economy might ruin our plan of taking a vacation. It may seem so silly to plan when we are experiencing high food and gas prices, job insecurities and a falling dollar.

Public health experts say that getting away from your work once in a while can help your health and productivity and employers are starting to think the same.

"There definitely is a trend towards employers understanding the relationship between stress and health, and that taking time to recharge, relax, does have a benefit to burn-out. We do see some of our clients moving in the direction of trying to encourage their employees to use their time off and use it in larger increments." said Carol Sladek, principle in the work/life consulting practice of Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Ill.

Employers are more inclined to give long weekend or limit vacations as to ease the fear of their workers that they are unneeded or uncommitted. The portion of Americans planning to take a vacation this year dropped to 33% from 40% according to a survey of 1,000 adults released earlier this month from Access America, travel insurance provider.

Vacation time affects Americans

On the spectrum of U.S. workers' efforts to secure paid time off, vacation historically has taken a backseat to sick days and leave for medical reasons and family caregiving responsibilities. But it's rising as a benefit that Americans want to protect,

"We feel vacation time or the lack of it affects many Americans, and in many ways has a negative impact on our health," said John de Graaf, executive director of Take Back Your Time, a Seattle-based nonprofit that addresses overwork and time poverty.

He noted that the U.S. spends 16% of its gross domestic product on health care but fares relatively poorly in international comparisons of life expectancy, infant mortality, chronic illness and obesity.

"We would argue that a big part of this is the time pressure and stress in people's lives that don't allow them to take care of themselves properly," de Graaf said.

Not so much research has been to on personal health can be affected on taking vacations, how long and the kind of respite. The frequency of annual vacations was associated with a reduced risk of death in middle-aged men at high risk of heart disease, according to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine in 2000. A 2005 study of 1,500 women ages 25 to 75 published in the Wisconsin Medical Journal suggests that failing to take a break at least once a year brings psychological health risks.