Addressing obesity—a significant risk factor for chronic disease—will continue to be at the forefront of employers' health and wellness initiatives this year. (Photo: Shutterstock)

In my meetings with benefit managers and consultants over the past few months, they have emphasized several wellness themes again and again. Making progress on these issues, they told me, will be among their top priorities for 2019.

Here's an overview of those priorities.

1. Measuring engagement.

Vendor A claims that its wellness coaching program engages 80 percent of employees on average, while Vendor B's engagement rate is 25 percent. Clearly, Vendor A's program is superior, right? Not necessarily. That's because an employer considering both options may essentially be comparing apples to oranges. For example, Vendor A includes mail contact, telephonic outreach and possibly enrollments in its definition of engagement, but Vendor B takes a more conservative approach by only measuring active two-way engagement with a coach or platform, or achieving behavioral goals.