BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina

Why do it here and not at home?

Working adults spend a large proportion of their waking hours in their offices, plants, labs or stores. Some are with their bosses and colleagues more than they are with their spouses and children, sharing a common purpose and culture. So it makes sense that they’re influenced by what they see and hear at work each day.

So why not use the trust you’ve gained and relationships you’ve developed to promote the benefits of healthy lifestyles? Coffee and lunch breaks provide an ideal time to introduce wellness programs, especially those related to nutrition and fitness. What’s more, employees will support each other in achieving their wellness goals, whether it’s eating healthier, quitting smoking or becoming more physically active because of the friendships they’ve established during working hours.

And the workplace is the most logical place to introduce incentives to help motivate employees to achieve their health goals. In fact, nearly half – 49 percent – of large employers surveyed currently offer such incentives to encourage workers to monitor and improve their health, and as many as 70 percent are expected to do so by 2009, according to the 2007/2008 Staying@Work survey.

A recent study by the Research Triangle Institute showed that employees who were offered a modest sum for every 1 percent of body weight they lost were five times more likely to lose 5 percent of their body weight than employees who weren’t offered any money to shed pounds.¹ An employee at a North Carolina-based boat manufacturer was so inspired by his company’s wellness program that he lost 50 pounds, earning him $1,000 from his employer – and the stamina to compete in triathlons.²

Your employees are grown-ups. Their health isn’t ultimately your responsibility. But the way their health affects your company is another matter. There’s no getting around the fact that unhealthy workers cost their employers money: In North Carolina, the annual cost of unhealthy eating, overweight and obesity, physical activity and tobacco use is approximately $5,000 per employee, according to North Carolina Prevention Partners.³

1. Finkelstein, Eric A., et al, “A Pilot Study Testing the Effect of Different Levels of Incentives on Weight Loss Among Overweight Employees,” Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, September 2007.
2. “Working Well: 2007 State of Preventive Health,” Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, October 2007.
3. “Healthy Employees Create Healthy Businesses,” North Carolina Prevention Partners, 2004.