Employers tackle employee waistlines
“By one estimate, obesity-related conditions cost organizations $12 billion a year. Companies are putting diet and exercise plans in place to combat the trend.”
The article profiles one employer’s program. After a comprehensive employee health screening found that more than half its employees weighed too much, and almost three-quarters of them exercised too little, it launched a “10,000-Step Challenge.”
“More than 2,800 . . . employees signed up. They donned company-issued pedometers to track their steps, with the goal of reaching 10,000 a day. Workers formed a ‘Steppers’ support group, and 15 employees, including a few executives, were selected to track their weight-loss and walking progress on the company intranet. Results were impressive. Participants lost an average of six pounds during the 12-week program, and 62 employees lost more than 10 pounds each.”
The employer also offers “group, personal and online weight-management programs; nutritional counseling; low-fat meals and snacks in its cafeterias and vending machines; discounts on nutritional products and services; and an employee fitness center.”
Could the benefits be worth the costs? You bet:
“Obesity has roughly the same association with chronic health conditions as 20 years of aging, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It contributes to heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and some types of cancer. The Surgeon General reports that more than 9 percent of the nation’s health-care expenditures–about $117 billion–and 300,000 deaths annually are directly related to obesity and physical inactivity. And a study published in the American Journal of Health Behavior showed that annual medical expenses for Dallas city employees ballooned from $114 for normal-weight individuals to $573 for the overweight to $620 for the obese.”
How long until the employers who are aggressively cutting health costs begin seeking to exclude or reduce coverage of obesity-related conditions, or to charge more to obese employees? Would that be unlawful discrimination? Doubt it. Certainly would be an incentive.
