Table of Contents
- 1 What are the reasons why companies are taking steps to improve the health of their employees?
- 2 How does obesity affect the workplace?
- 3 Does obesity raise health care costs?
- 4 Why is workplace wellbeing so important?
- 5 How can we prevent obesity in the workplace?
- 6 Can you tell an employee to lose weight?
- 7 How much does obesity cost the economy?
- 8 What are the costs associated with being overweight and obesity?
What are the reasons why companies are taking steps to improve the health of their employees?
5 Reasons Employers Should Provide Good Health Benefits
- Happy and Healthy Employees. Employees who are offered health insurance through their employer are more productive all around and more able to focus on their work.
- Increase Retention Rates.
- Save Money on Taxes, Turnover.
- Improve Reputation.
- It’s Simple.
How does obesity affect the workplace?
Obesity is associated with substantially increased rates of absenteeism (i.e. more days out of work) and presenteeism (i.e. reduced productivity while at work) [11,13,14]. Obese workers take more sick days, have longer sick leaves and incur greater productivity losses than do non-obese workers.
What impact does obesity have on the economy?
Besides excess health care expenditure, obesity also imposes costs in the form of lost productivity and foregone economic growth as a result of lost work days, lower productivity at work, mortality and permanent disability.
Does obesity raise health care costs?
Obesity Costs Are Rising Overall Spending on obesity-related conditions accounted for an estimated 8.5 percent of Medicare spending, 11.8 percent of Medicaid spending, and 12.9 percent of private-payer spending.
Why is workplace wellbeing so important?
Investing in employee wellbeing can lead to increased resilience, better employee engagement, reduced sickness absence and higher performance and productivity. To gain real benefit, employee wellbeing priorities must be integrated throughout an organisation, embedded in its culture, leadership and people management.
How can a business improve health?
Share these tips and tricks with your employees to help them improve their health while at work!
- Eat a good breakfast.
- Be prepared to handle stress.
- Reduce sitting time.
- Build a healthy lunch routine.
- Encourage hand washing.
- Prevent back pain from sitting.
- Avoid digital eye strain.
- Make time for physical activity.
How can we prevent obesity in the workplace?
Use marketing strategies to encourage healthier food and beverage choices or discourage unhealthy choices at the workplace
- Reduce the price of healthy foods and beverages (3,7,12)
- Replace unhealthy items with healthy items in high traffic areas, such as cafeteria checkout lanes, and at eye-level in vending machines (2)
Can you tell an employee to lose weight?
However, weight is not a protected characteristic under federal law. Right or wrong, this means that employers can legally fire or take other negative actions against employees for being overweight. Additional rules apply if your employer is requiring employees to participate in a wellness program to lose the weight.
Why is obesity a problem for society?
Obesity is serious because it is associated with poorer mental health outcomes and reduced quality of life. Obesity is also associated with the leading causes of death in the United States and worldwide, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.
How much does obesity cost the economy?
The total cost of chronic diseases due to American obesity and overweight was $1.72 trillion—equivalent to 9.3 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
What are the costs associated with being overweight and obesity?
National Estimated Costs of Obesity Annual nationwide productivity costs of obesity-related absenteeism range between $3.38 billion ($79 per obese individual) and $6.38 billion ($132 per individual with obesity).