AC

Judith Briles crisscrosses the country as a consultant and is well-acquainted with the bumps of the road. Unhealthy meals, hit-and-miss hotel rooms and travel delays can all take a toll. "I've always told the client part of my speaking/consulting fee is based on the pain ... on the body to get there," Briles says. "People who have to travel for business should get on-the-road hazard pay." Now, a recently published study backs up business trekkers like Briles who've long suspected life on the road was negatively affecting their health. The study, which analyzed data gathered from roughly 13,000 workers, found that those who traveled more than 20 nights a month were 2.61 times more likely to report they were in poor or fair health than those on the road one to six days a month. And they were 1.92 times as likely to be obese, a condition that can lead to diabetes and heart disease. "What we found was employees who travel the most had the highest rates of obesity and the poorest...