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Obesity an Epidemic

June 8th, 2007 Posted by Mark

We can worry about stopping our employees from slipping tripping and falling while on the job. We can provide them with lifting safety posters so they do not throw out their backs when they lift heavy objects during the day. We can offer workstation safety tips posters so they can learn how to protect themselves no matter what assignment they are on at your work site. We can drug test them and put up drug free posters in our facilities so that employers know we care about their physical well being and their mental well being.

But do we have a don’t eat that donut poster? Or a save the sugary treats for another day poster? Or the walk up the steps instead of the elevator poster? No, and I do not mean to make light or make fun of anyone. Wellness, being overweight and obesity are serious problems in the United States. I have personally reported here on studies that show that obese workers tend to cost employers more money when it comes to health care benefits and pharmacy costs.

It is no wonder, then, that there is a new group of law makers, pharmaceutical companies, health care organizations and employers that has banded together to try to tackle the issue of health care and obesity. There are as many as 80 groups and companies in this new coalition, which met in May in Washington DC to discuss their game plan. They came up with six top priorities that they hope to advocate in the fight to end obesity—which they have called the Collaborative Campaign to End Obesity.

Their goals are to increase the amount of health care out there so that it includes the prevention and treatment of obesity. They want to make the federal government provide more research funding to study how obesity happens and why. They want to protect the children in our schools by keeping close tabs on what they are served in their school cafeterias. They want to cut down on the number of commercials we see for unhealthy foods. They want to advocate exercise at schools.

All of these goals will help their overarching goal, which is to make sure that children and their parents—your employees—have a healthy environment to interact in and have good choices in front of them to compete with the bad choices. It is a matter of having the idea of a walk around the block after dinner available along with the idea of sitting on the couch in front of the TV all night. It is a matter of having children know that they could have an apple instead of that Twinkie, and a glass of grape juice instead of that cola.

The coalition will not just stop at educating students and employees. They also want to teach other law makers about the benefits of a health lifestyle. But the coalition is just getting off the ground. They have not even named an executive director yet, or even held their first official organization meeting. So give them time to get grounded and get their feet wet.

In the meantime, consider some scary stats that they had released. As many as one in three Americans is now considered obese—at least—and as many as two out of three are at least overweight if not obese. That is enough motivation perhaps to get that don’t eat that donut poster out on the wall. Though that would not be the nicest thing to do, it could at least combat the incredible strain on your health care budget and the health care system overall that obese employees seems to be putting on it.