Health scientists predict that by 2030 almost half of adults in the United States will suffer from obesity and 1 in 4 will suffer from severe obesity. If this trend continues the health and financial implications will be significant given that obesity and other non-communicable diseases already cost the U.S. health care system nearly $173 billion a year.
In addition to the substantial health care costs and impact on individuals, the toll on the health and productivity of the U.S. workforce is considerable, affecting the ability of businesses to compete in a global economy.
The epicenter is the workplace as this is where the average person spends one-third of their life. As such, employers have a real opportunity to positively influence the health and wellbeing of their greatest asset – their people. This starts by addressing the obesogenic environment in the workplace, and with many employees now hybrid or fully remote, also offering tools and resources to drive healthy behaviors in the home and broader community.
Obesity is the crisis; nutrition is the challenge
So many aspects of our work and home environments, and even our everyday lives, have characteristics that promote obesity. The role these factors play in increasing obesity rates are obesogenic. Eating nutritious food and maintaining a healthy weight can be difficult due to the numerous social, behavioral, and environmental factors at work – this is the obesogenic environment. With temptation everywhere it's increasingly difficult to choose the healthy option over the often more appealing, cheaper, and more accessible unhealthy choice. Our current food environment has set us up for failure.
Strong evidence links an increased intake of vegetables and fruits to the reduced risk of lifestyle-related diseases, including obesity-linked diseases. Interventions to improve our diets are greatly needed.
Employers can play their part in turning the tide by focusing on health in the workplace. Recommended strategies include:
- Offer healthier food options in the cafeteria. Access to healthy food is not universal and healthier options at work may be the only opportunity for some employees.
- Subsidize the healthy choice. Make it more affordable for employees to opt for a salad over the burger and fries by funding a discount for the more nutritious options.
- Take away temptation. Remove unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks from the vending machines.
- Create a policy – and a culture – of catering meetings and in-office events with only healthy options and consider providing calorie counts.
- Host lunch and learns (either in-person or virtually) to educate employees on affordable and easy ways to cook healthy meals at home.
Innovative employers are encouraging their employees to make healthy choices when grocery shopping by offering rebates for foods we know are health-promoting. One such example is our HealthyFood benefit, which encourages people to buy healthy food at partner grocery stores to unlock cost-saving discounts. Members are eligible for an immediate 10% rebate for healthy foods, which increases to 25% once they complete a health review questionnaire.
Nudging people to eat healthier by making it easy, accessible, and affordable is one strategy to encourage them to improve their eating habits. A study published in the American Journal of Health Behavior with data from over 300,000 Vitality members looked at whether or not a cashback incentive and other nominal rewards for buying healthy items increased their purchases of healthier foods. It turns out it did. People bought more servings of fruits and vegetables daily, were up to 65% less likely to regularly eat foods high in sugar and up to 72% less likely to regularly eat fast food. Those that were most engaged also lost weight and reduced their health claims.
Small changes, sustainable impact
Sustainable weight loss does not happen overnight but instead relies on small, gradual, and consistent changes that add up over time. Best practices for evidence-based changes are effective tools, such as reducing portion sizes or cooking at home rather than picking up fast food, as well as incorporating behavioral economics principles to make the healthy choice the easy choice, such as placing unhealthy foods out of reach (and sight!) while making healthy foods more visible.
Don't fall for pseudo-science
When it comes to diet and nutrition, there is so much advice out there – some reputable, some not – and it's easy to get caught up in dietary trends that aren't always the healthiest or achievable long-term. Employers should search for credible and evidence-based programs that promote sustainable behavior change that can lead to healthy habit formation. It's not just about making the healthy choice once but making that healthy choice repeatedly that matters.
There's no quick fix for the obesity epidemic, and the responsibility lies with all stakeholders – including consumers, food manufacturers, employers, and public health policymakers. A combination of our human nature – finding ways to maintain healthy habits despite our own health history and psychological relationship with food – with the modern "food jungle" environment of large portion sizes, low prices, and aggressive marketing of unhealthy food are all contributors to the growing obesity concern.
Healthier employees and their families translate to a healthier economy for both businesses and the country. While this health crisis is a complex and daunting problem to solve, each of us can take simple, practical steps to influence our obesogenic environment to promote healthier living in the workplace, the home, and the community.
Jonathan Dugas, PhD, exercise physiologist and clinical development consultant, Vitality USA
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