Weigh Your Options: Guide to Starting a Weight-Management Program in Your Company
Weigh Your Options: Guide to Starting a Weight-Management Program in Your Company is a collection of materials to help employers start incorporating weight management into health improvement programs. Research has shown that the overall impact of obesity on health and costs outweighs even that of smoking. Ultimately, every company in the United States can—and should—play a role in combating the obesity epidemic.The payoff for undertaking activities that reduce obesity is tremendous. Using the Toolkit materials can help employers get started on this path.
Weigh Your Options: Guide to Starting a Weight-Management Program in Your Company is the result of significant efforts of Weight Watchers Corporate Solutions and the National Business Group on Health. Users of this toolkit will be interested to learn that a new toolkit addressing weight maintenance is under development with a planned release in early 2007.Please contact healthyweight@businessgrouphealth.org with suggestions and requests.
Weigh Your Options: Guide to Starting a Weight-Management Program in Your Company  —the complete brochure can be viewed here. If you would like to look at the component parts separately please use the links below.
Start Now—Act Now —Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and you can be assured they are on your payroll. America’s growing weight problem is already affecting corporate bottom lines with double-digit increases in health care premiums to cover an ever-expanding menu of chronic health concerns—many attributable to weight issues.
Company Involvement —Why should we help our employees lose and manage weight? Better health truly does lead to a healthier bottom line. Not only will your employee weight-control initiative create good will among employees, you can—and should—expect measurable results.
Predicting success and getting results — A great deal of research has been done on what constitutes an effective weight-management program. An expert panel convened by the Institute of Medicine outlined three predictors of success when starting a program.
Business Sense —For every $100 spent in annual health care costs on a healthy-weight employee, employers spend 13.8% more on an overweight employee and 37.7% more on an obese employee.
Start a Healthy Weight Culture —What’s needed is an awareness created at work where adults spend most of their waking hours and where they can be informed and influenced about making lifestyle choices.
How to Choose a Program—Choose one that gives sustainable weight loss, is comprehensive, and best suits your employees and your company configuration.
Corporate Stories —Examples of weight management strategies from five companies
Checklist for weight management success —10 steps to implementation of a weight management program at work
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