Simple Ways to Curb Obesity

It’s no secret that obesity is a problem in many industrialized countries, but did you know that in the U.S. alone, our expanding waistlines may cost $344 billion in medical-related costs by the year 2018?

According to a recent report on obesity for America’s Health Rankings, an obese employee will average $2,460 more in medical bills a year than an adult with a healthy body mass index (BMI).

If we continue on this trend, more than 42% of adults will be 30 pounds or more overweight by 2018, which also increases the risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes among other illnesses.

Obesity also increases the likelihood that employees will be less efficient at work, and cost the company more in healthcare and lost productivity. A recent study done by the American Journal of Health Promotion found that obese employees have higher medical costs, miss work more often, exhibit poor work relationships, and have additional impaired/disability problems verses a healthy employee.

In fact, the cost of lost productivity among obese employees was more than $3.9 billion.

Luckily, obesity is a preventable—and treatable—condition. Small lifestyle changes can make a huge impact on the health of employees.

Here, two suggestions for big results:

Encourage Healthy Choices. Instead of looking at nutrition as a diet, embrace it as a lifestyle. Tack up posters like Think B4 You Eat to help educate employees about the consequences of picking unhealthy food options. For example, if you choose to have fried chicken for lunch, you have to exercise more than three times longer to the burn the calories in a grilled chicken breast served with herbs and vegetables. (Check out a PDF sample).

Promote Physical Activity. According to the American Council on Exercise, obesity contributes to some 300,000 premature deaths a year. And as the temperature continues to drop, many people trade exercise for a more sedentary routine. Encourage employees to exercise indoors with a stationary bike, treadmill, or a Wii Fit activity, like the free step aerobic workout, which burns around 100 calories per 30 minutes. (Learn more about Walking for My Wii). Also, talk to your local gym about any special winter discounts you can offer employees.

Related Information:

• Fad Free Nutrition Tips
• Food and Fitness Tracker
• Calories Count