Monday December 1st, 2008
 |  |
 |
Losing Weight for Your Boss's Sake
Posted by Kerry Trueman on January 9, 2006 - 7:00am.
Bigger isn’t better for corporate America these days; an increase in significantly overweight employees is costing companies more than the obvious expenses of obesity-related health problems.
According to a Harvard Medical School study, “obese employees consistently have higher absentee rates, show a higher likelihood of workplace accidents and a lower level of productivity.”
So, faced with a workforce that's expanding in all the wrong ways, corporations are sponsoring wellness programs and partnering with companies like Jenny Craig in the hopes of getting employees to trim company overhead as well as their own waistlines.
IKEA's Scottish stores took an innovative approach to this international problem by offering their workers unlimited free fruit and salads at their cafeterias (but no free meatballs!) That approach might be a wee bit socialist for corporate America, but how many company cafeterias even offer healthy meals to their workers at any price?
Most of us can hardly find time for lunch at all, much less a well-balanced and wholesome one. And as Lime's Health Editor Marisa observed the other day, people who eat in a hurry are more likely to gain weight.
So here's a great resolution for all those corporations who'd like to see their employees shape up: give your workers a boost by giving them a real lunch break. If you've got a cafeteria, make sure it offers healthy, wholesome foods to help your workforce slim down.
What's the current state of your cubicle cuisine? Do you have time to prepare a healthy lunch at home, and enjoy it at work without interruption? Are there healthy fast food options near your office, or do you get stuck wolfing down greasy take-out while drafting that memo that's due by 3 pm?
Photo credit: U.S. Department of Energy – Cafeteria, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho. 1957.
Related Shop Items
I’ve tried the counting 20x before you swallow - and never have mastered that…but I now realize how important to SLOW DOWN! How simple is that? Enjoy the meal a bit more, relax a bit – and keep weight off at the same time. Seems like a good deal.
It always strikes me as funny when corporations try to encourage fitness of employees while expecting them to work long hours. there are just not enough hours in the day if you work more than say 8 and have other responsibilities like say a family, to counteract our sedentary culture. perhaps if companies had gyms on site, and gave employees the time to use them, we’d drop those excess pounds.
I agree with Veronica. Programs can be set up, but if employees arent encouraged or even supported when using them, then the obesity problem will continue along with overall employee rundown. Healthy options are the first step, but those programs need to be looked at as key to the firms success along with bottom line financials.
You’re right on. And it wouldn’t even necessarily have to be an onsite gym. Think about what a big difference even something like a ping pong table could make. Twenty or thirty minutes a day during lunch break…
It would really improve atmosphere of the office, too. Employees would get to know each other more. And how do you have a lousy afternoon after a spirited ping pong match (even if it’s a heartbreaking loss)?
I smell increased productivity.
I think having fruit available everyday as opposed to the constant barrage of processed candy bars, cakes, cookies, etc. that are typically available would make a HUGE difference.
This time of year the best office fruit is the clementine—small, tasty, and easy to peel.