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Workplace wellness programs can help employees lose weight
Work-based wellness interventions coordinated by employees reduced mean BMI and the percentage of employees with overweight or obesity, according to data published in the American Journal of Public Health.
“This study suggests that worksite environmental interventions might be promising strategies for weight control at the population level,” Diana Fernandez, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor in the department of public health sciences at the University of Rochester, said in a news release. “These observations lend support to the approaches that might eventually reduce the incidence and prevalence of overweight and obesity on a larger scale.”
Researchers identified 10 worksites and paired them according to type of work and facilities; one site in each pair became an intervention group and the other became a control group. A total of 3,799 participants across the worksites enrolled in the 2-year wellness trial. The study was part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Obesity Prevention in the Worksite initiative.
At the intervention worksites, wellness programs were developed by employee advisory boards, food service representatives, a study team member and a group facilitator. Some of the strategies implemented in these groups included awareness workshops, educational brochures and posters, cafeteria nutrition promotions and exercise support.
Participants’ BMI was calculated at baseline and at 2 years. By the end of the study, the within-group mean BMI of participants in the intervention groups decreased by 0.54 kg/m² (P = .02) while the mean BMI of the control groups decreased by 0.12 kg/m² (P = .73), yielding a difference in differences (DID) decrease of 0.42 kg/m² (P = .33) between the groups over time.
“This study shows in particular that when employees are empowered to help shape wellness programs, these programs appear to result in meaningful improvements in health,” Fernandez said in the release.
The percentage of employees with overweight or obesity in the intervention groups decreased by 3.7% (P = .07) while the control groups’ rate increased by 4.9% (P = .10), producing a net difference of 8.6%.
“Our findings support a worksite population strategy that might eventually reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity by minimizing environmental exposures to calorically dense foods and increasing exposures to opportunities for energy expenditure within worksite settings,” the researchers wrote.
They added that future research should focus on determining which wellness strategies led to the favorable outcomes of participants in the intervention group. – by Stephanie Viguers
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.