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don's report archiveWellness in the Headlines
Tuesday July 8, 2003
Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.The Bard's perspective on fat folks is a bit out of fashion. Last week, I discussed the obesity epidemic in one essay and summarized initiatives by schools to deal with it in another. Today's essay highlights innovations at the corporate level as employers across the nation attempt to assist employees with weight problems. Alas, even the innovators focus more on the symptoms than the underlying problem -- the inability or unwillingness by most to do what is necessary to sustain healthy lifestyles. Let's look at the innovations first, after which I'll offer a few tips I think would render such corporate efforts more effective. According to data released on June 18, 2003 by the Wall Street Journal, obesity costs American companies $12 billion annually. The $12 billion cost estimate includes medical care, lowered productivity, absenteeism, higher health and disability insurance premiums and the costs of refitting office doors so that doublewide workers can pass in and out. As a result of this awareness, some of the biggest employers (Ford Motor, Honeywell, General Mills and PepsiCo, for examples) are coordinating efforts to reduce the problem. Among the modest changes being made to help obese employees, somewhat similar to the initiatives described in the earlier essay about school lunchroom reforms, are posting nutritional information in company cafeterias, lower fat/sugar menu choices, encouraging workers to take the stairs and distributing literature about the risks of obesity. A few companies even partner with local communities to build running and hiking trails, parks and the like. Such actions are, of course, too little and essentially inconsequential. Company managers who sponsor isolated, one-shot awareness efforts do not appreciate the gravity of the obstacles that obese employees face. Efforts to make healthier lifestyle choices without systematic culture changes at home and at work rarely become habitual. Required instead are daily positive supports that make the heroic quest for wellness both fun and engaging over time. Which states would you guess have the most obese employees, the same workers who run up the highest health care costs? Not all companies track such things, but one spokesperson quoted in the WSJ article on corporate obesity identified Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas as the three "heaviest" burdens on the organization's bottom line. Go Vols! Go Rebels! Go Razorbacks! For maximum effectiveness, I think managers trying to deal with employee obesity problems might want to keep the following in mind:
(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MEANING DOMAIN under the skill area of relationships. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)
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