Top New Year's resolutions for improving health
January 23, 2013 2:48 PM
1. Weight loss
According to the ComPsych survey, 39% of employees said weight loss was the health issue they were most trying to stay ahead of this year. L.L. Bean encourages healthy weight and living through its employee outdoor club, stretch-break programs and has even piloted programs that include paying employees to exercise on company time. Look for another employer success story in the February EBN issue whose Biggest Loser challenge helped employees at the candy company lose weight and eat healthy.
2. Stress
More employees are becoming aware of the negative effects stress can have on their health as 26% cited this issue as their biggest concern for 2013. From stress management programs to resiliency training, experts have different views on how to lower stress or channel it to productive means. Read this article for more information about the different tactics to deal with stress in your workplace.
3. Exercise
To help employees build exercise into their daily routine (17% of employees pointed to exercise as their top health issue), employers can organize walking groups or meetings. Sit-stand workstations are the newest in desk technology to get employees out of their chairs and toning muscles while the work.
4. Diet improvement
Discussions on our LinkedIn Group page reveal many employers are bringing farmers markets to the office to improve access to nutritional foods for their workers. Theres a demand to improve their diet, as 9% of employees said this was their top resolution. Educating employees about health and nutrition, such as to avoid fructose, can help reverse the weight gain trend as well.
5. Quitting smoking
Smoking cessation programs have helped a large number of workers kick the habit, which may explain why this is last on the list with only 6% of workers determining it as their biggest health issue. Before banning smoking outright, "">make sure youre in compliance with state laws.
