Obesity Prevention and Control at the Worksite
- Worksite Health Promotion (http://www.thecommunityguide.org/obesity/workprograms.html)
- The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends worksite programs intended to improve diet and/or physical activity behaviors based on strong evidence of their effectiveness for reducing weight among employees.
About the Intervention
- Informational and educational strategies aim to increase knowledge about a healthy diet and physical activity. Examples include:
- Lectures
- Written materials (provided in print or online)
- Educational software
- Behavioral and social strategies target the thoughts (e.g. awareness, self-efficacy) and social factors that affect behavior changes. Examples include:
- Individual or group behavioral counseling
- Skill-building activities such as cue control
- Rewards or reinforcement
- Inclusion of co-workers or family members to build support systems
- Policy and environmental approaches aim to make healthy choices easier and target the entire workforce by changing physical or organizational structures. Examples of this include:
- Improving access to healthy foods (e.g. changing cafeteria options, vending machine content)
- Providing more opportunities to be physically active (e.g. providing on-site facilities for exercise)
- Policy strategies may also change rules and procedures for employees such as health insurance benefits or costs or money for health club membership.
- Worksite weight control strategies may occur separately or as part of a comprehensive worksite wellness program that addresses several health issues (e.g., smoking cessation, stress management, cholesterol reduction).
Related RHI Profiles