When employers take food and nutrition seriously, their workers really do get healthier.
But how much healthier? A research team at the University of Minnesota focused on one key indicator of health — obesity — to see if a relationship existed between it and an employer’s efforts to integrate better nutrition into the workplace.
The result: In this study of 1,538 young employees, 17 percent of the young workers at companies that made an extra effort on the nutrition front were obese, compared to 24 percent of millennials at companies that made little or no effort to impact employee nutrition.
The study looked at millennials employed by two types of companies: One group that addressed nutrition in multiple ways, through onsite food, internal nutrition campaigns and so on; and the other where either one or no nutrition initiative existed.
The researchers found that other factors beyond the employers’ control weighted into the matter, including whether a fast-food joint was located nearby, whether employees went home for lunch, and “soda availability.”
Overall, the researchers concluded, nutrition-savvy employers had to be making a significant difference given the gap between the obesity rates.
“A more healthful workplace environment overall, including physical attributes and perceived social norms, may contribute to more favorable weight-related behaviors and lower prevalence of obesity among young adults. Employer-initiated and community-initiated policies may represent one way to create healthier workplace environments for young adults,” was the study’s conclusion.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
