The Fight Against Fat

July 13, 2011
Written by: Julie Bosche, Filed in: Corporate Wellness Programs

Your employees have a lot on their plates … sometimes literally.

Weight management is one of those corporate wellness topics that comes up again and again, for a very good reason: It’s that important.

With rising obesity rates and no real improvement despite well-intended movements that promote physical fitness and nutrition, the future of America looks, well, fat.

A newly released report by the Trust for America’s Health found that 16 states saw a rise in the rate of obesity over the past year. While that may give you hope for the other 34, it’s less encouraging when you hear that none of the 50 states reported a decline in obesity rates.

A grim picture for tomorrow, or an impetus to change things in your own little corner of the world?

If your efforts to promote weight loss and management thus far have fallen flat, you’re probably in the market for some new and hopefully more effective strategies.

Realistically, you’ll probably never see 100% participation in health and wellness initiatives among your staff members. There are simply too many people who would rather continue eating however much they want of whatever they please. (And parking it on the couch after a long day working behind a desk.)

But because you’re and invested in your workers’ health and well being, including disease prevention, heart health, mental and physical wellness, it’s best to focus on the ones you are reaching.

In the meantime, you can hold out hope that the trickle-down effect will eventually sway the ones who are more resistant to healthy lifestyle changes.

Try these strategies to rekindle your employees’ commitment to weight loss and management:

Hold a voluntary weight-loss contest with a prize for the “biggest loser” on staff.

Organize a healthy-lunch club where employees can eat together, share nutritious recipes, and then spend the rest of their break taking a walk.

Encourage people who are trying to lose weight by offering incentives. They can be monetary, but they don’t have to be. Recognition works, too, as do smaller-scale prizes like gift cards and fitness club passes.

Invest in office fitness however you can afford to. Purchase and hand out pedometers to each employee to encourage more physical activity each day, look into group rates at local gyms that you can pass along to your workers, or buy an stationary bike and/or a treadmill to use in an empty-office “fitness room.”