(From the Society for Human Resource Management web site.)

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8/22/03 2:30 PM

New program helps employees control weight gain
By Karyn-Siobhan Robinson

A new nationwide health initiative aims to help employers encourage their workers to adopt incremental steps to prevent the gradual weight gain that most people experience as they age.

Health policy experts have declared obesity, the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States, a public health emergency. More than 300,000 Americans die annually from obesity-related diseases.

America on the Move (AOTM) is a national initiative to stop weight gain in America and the health complications that result from being overweight. The organization has set up numerous partnerships with employers to help businesses help employees get healthy.

AOTM encourages individuals to:
• Set small and achievable individual goals.
• Walk an additional 2,000 steps—about a mile—each day.
• Reduce their total calorie intake each day by 100 calories.

“Just these simple steps actually stop weight gain in most people,” according to the America on the Move web site. “If all Americans adapted these recommendations, we could stop the epidemic of obesity in our country.”

The rates of obesity in the United States have increased dramatically in the past 20 years, reaching "epidemic proportions," according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Health-related costs for the disease are estimated to be $117 billion annually. This figure includes the direct health care costs of those diseases and indirect costs, such as loss of productivity.

AOTM's web site notes that workplace activity programs can:
• Reduce short-term sick leave by 32 percent.
• Reduce health care costs by 20 percent to 55 percent.
• Increase productivity as much as 50 percent.

Program launched in Colorado

AOTM developed from a pilot program in Larimer County, Colo., called Health District on the Move. The program received a three-year grant from local organizations to encourage residents to make healthier lifestyle choices.

Studies showed that most people experience "creeping weight gain," adding two to three pounds a year over the course of their adult lives, said Kathy Schlepp, coordinator for Health District on the Move.
"We examined the link between sedentary lifestyles and overweight and obesity," said Schlepp. "We wanted to increase the physical activity of participants in the program; our goal is to get participants to maintain their weight, rather than gaining that extra two to three pounds a year." The district program wasn’t designed to encourage weight loss, even though that can often be a pleasant side effect, she said.

Almost 40 worksites covering more than 1,150 employees are participants in the program, according to Schlepp.

Employees who sign up for a 15-week program agree to make the three AOTM lifestyle changes. For the first week, participants establish a baseline activity level by simply going about their normal daily routines. After the baseline is established, the goal is for participants to increase the number of steps taken by 20 percent each week until they reach the program goal of 10,000 steps per day. Employees receive pedometers to count their steps.

Employers and communities are encouraged to localize the program name and to create ways to help employees meet their daily step goal. Some employers have even implemented walking meetings, Schlepp said.
When health officials in Pueblo, Colo., began to develop their local program in March, they decided to run it in tandem with the YMCA Corporate Cup, an annual fitness event. Currently, Pueblo on the Move has more than 800 people from 16 organizations participating, according to Nicole Means of the YMCA in Pueblo and coordinator for Pueblo on the Move.

Eighty percent of the employees at Rocky Mountain Health Plan in Grand Junction, Colo., signed up for the program. AOTM notes that the employees lost more than 300 pounds in 14 weeks and took enough steps to cross Colorado, including the Rocky Mountains, four times.
Means, who is also an aerobics instructor, said that raising awareness is the key to making healthier choices. "The pedometer has helped me become far more conscious about my activity," she said.

People are in the workplace for many hours each day and employers can make the workplace a place that supports and empowers individuals to make healthy choices, said Helen Darling, president of the Washington Business Group on Health in Washington, D.C.

Among the steps employers could take, Darling suggested:
• Ask onsite cafeterias and vending machine providers to make sure that 60 percent to 80 percent of food choices are healthy options.
• Make exercise an attractive option: put a sign near the elevators that asks, "Have you thought about taking the stairs?" Make stairwells attractive with paint or piped-in music.
• Consider sponsoring onsite Weight Watchers meetings.
• Encourage more use of onsite fitness centers; sponsor a "newcomers to fitness day" in onsite fitness centers to encourage those who are new or reluctant to exercise.

For employer information about America on the Move, visit: http://www.americaonthemove.org/reg_worksite.asp.

Karyn-Siobhan Robinson is staff writer for HR News Online.