Turn Your Participants Into "Losers"

Americans are obsessed with their weight. It's one reason reality shows like The Biggest Loser have millions of followers, and the weight-loss industry generates an estimated $60 billion dollars a year. But if you've got an overweight workforce, healthcare costs will keep on expanding just like the waistlines of many Americans.

An estimated 68 percent of all adults in the United States are overweight or obese. And in a recent study, researchers found that annual healthcare costs for overweight or obese men and women are higher than costs for people at a healthy weight. In addition, researchers found that health care costs for overweight or obese people rises exponentially as they age.

Being overweight or obese increases the risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. Collectively, these are the kinds of health problems that can make healthcare costs so expensive for an organization. In the last 10 years, healthcare costs have more than doubled, with the average annual premium for family coverage through an employer now at $15,073, according to a Kaiser Foundation study. Healthcare costs jumped 9 percent in 2011, and more increases are likely in the future.

If you want to reduce healthcare costs for your organization, one of the best things you can do is help your employees lose weight. To encourage them:

• Host healthy eating cooking demonstrations at work.
• Organize regular on-site fitness classes such as yoga, aerobics, or Pilates.
• Create a Biggest Loser contest of your own with weekly weigh-ins and exercise challenges with awards for the top winners.
• Encourage employees to take walk breaks.
• Provide healthy snacks for employees.
• Give a discount on gym memberships.
• Host weekly support groups like Weight Watchers®.
• Show your employees a group report for your organization, and the risk factors for chronic diseases.
• Recognize employees for achieving weight-loss goals.
• Provide weight-loss tips, information, and encouragement, in a regular email or newsletter to your employees.
• Give each employee a pedometer, and challenge them to walk 10,000 steps per day.

When you help your participants lose weight, everyone wins!