Workplace

Helping Employees Develop and Maintain Healthy Lifestyles

Investing in the health of employees is one of the most pivotal actions employers can take to improve employee productivity and the overall success of a company. Studies show that obesity-related disorders cost employers nearly 40 million lost workdays, 239 million restricted-activity days, and 63 million doctor visits each year.1

Collectively, the workforce of Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation member companies represents more than one million employees, plus the dependents that we touch through our benefits programs. This translates to more than one million opportunities to influence and make a difference.

While many of us have invested in the health and wellness of our employees for many years, we’re excited to enhance and improve our efforts by incorporating the energy balance approach to healthy weight.

Measuring Our Progress

When we help to reduce obesity in our workplaces, there’s a lot to gain. As member companies of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, we are not only providing resources to help our employees achieve and maintain a healthy weight, we also are committed to participating in an independent evaluation process that demonstrates the impact of our commitment on improving the health of our employee (and dependent) population.

The National Business Group on Health is developing metrics that will allow us to effectively measure our impact. For example:

We hope to show a positive impact on the lives of our employees and their families.

Spotlight: Changes in the Workplace

It’s important for employers to “walk the talk.” We have a history of helping employees develop healthy lifestyle habits. We’ll be enhancing existing initiatives and introducing new ones to promote energy balance in the workplace.


Objectives

1Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Prevention Makes Common Cents. September 2003. Available at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/prevention/index.shtml. Accessed September 14, 2009.