For Immediate Release
For a review copy of the book
or an interview with the author,
please contact Dottie DeHart,
DeHart & Company Public Relations,
at (828) 325-4966 or DSDeHart@aol.com
A Weighty Issue:
Scaling Down the Sky-High Costs of Employee Obesity
Overweight employees could be costing you millions, if not billions, of dollars.
Tom Gilliam offers seven tips on cutting that bill down to size.
Hudson, OH (September 2005)—If you have overweight employees, you probably know they’re costing you money. Common sense tells you they take more sick days (which leads to lower productivity) and have higher medical bills (which equal higher insurance costs). But you may not realize the severity of the problem. Thomas B. Gilliam, Ph.D., invites you to simply scan the news. You’ll quickly discover that obesity is costing you big bucks—and that it’s in your best interest to help them get the weight off now.
“I read an article in The Wall Street Journal that reported that an obese employee costs General Motors about $1,500 more in health services each year compared to an employee with a healthy body weight,” says Gilliam, co-author (along with Jane Neill, R.D., L.D.) of Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.: Achieve a Healthier Workplace One Employee at a Time! (T. Gilliam & Associates, LLC, 2005, ISBN: 0-9762703-0-7, $19.95). “It went on to say that when you consider that about 26 percent of GM’s active workers and dependents are obese, the problem is costing the company nearly $1.4 billion more in healthcare costs each year.
“Another article, this one in the Chicago Tribune, stated that big companies have seen per-worker healthcare costs increase by more than 80 percent just since 2000,” he adds. “That is a shocking jump. When you consider the fact that over 60 percent of the workforce is either overweight or obese, you have to assume that weight is a big part of the problem. And you have to realize that getting your employees to slim down can result in significant savings for your company. There’s simply no denying it.”
Perhaps not. But there’s a huge gulf between knowing employees need to lose weight and “making” them lose it. You’re veering into sensitive territory. That’s why corporations hire experts to design and implement wellness programs—like Gilliam’s own Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.—for their workers.
“Encouraging weight loss is a touchy issue,” admits Gilliam. “Leaders think, ‘Well, it’s a personal matter and how much someone weighs is his or her own business.’ The whole subject makes leaders uncomfortable. But the truth is, if you pay health insurance for your employees, obesity is your business. It directly relates to your economic health, which affects all of your employees in a very tangible way.”
So how do you go about getting overweight workers to slim down? Gilliam offers several suggestions:
• Be honest with people about the impact of their excess weight. It’s natural to dread these types of conversations, but remember that your employees are adults. They can handle it. Tell employees honestly and directly that it’s difficult to provide higher wages and better benefits when so much of the company’s money is going to support illnesses that could be prevented. If you’re implementing a company-wide weight loss initiative, you can make these points in a letter or a kick-off meeting. But don’t discount the power of personal, face-to-face conversations. People will respect you more if you look them in the eye and tell the truth—and if you express concern for their well-being (rather than focusing solely on the money), they may even be touched and appreciative.
• Commit to helping them lose weight. It’s easy to make any lifestyle change if you have support. And having the full, committed backing of the company you work for is a significant benefit. Gilliam recommends structured programs like his own Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy. because they make the whole thing more “official” and have built-in tools and techniques that increase the likelihood of success. But it’s certainly possible to “wing it” and create your own program, especially if you’re a small company. Just be sure to invite all employees to participate. This will keep certain employees from feeling “picked on” and will provide a helpful sense of teamwork. And let’s face it—there are few people who don’t have at least five pounds they want to drop!
• Offer incentives. What those incentives are can vary wildly. Some companies may give small cash bonuses or gift certificates for reaching pre-determined milestones. Others may offer discounted insurance premiums. Still others make it a “team thing” and set up friendly competitions between departments; the team that collectively loses the most weight gets rewarded with, say, an afternoon off. “Even small incentives are powerful,” says Gilliam. “Let’s be honest: walking every day and forgoing your coffee and doughnut break can be a drag. People like working toward a concrete reward. Be creative. Make it fun.
“Oh, and one more point,” he adds. “You also need to recognize that group of people who have normal BMIs and manage to maintain them. After all, it’s that gradual, ten-pounds-every-year weight gain that leads to problems over time. People who don’t let that happen deserve to be rewarded—and they’ll rightfully feel resentful if their conscientiousness is ignored.”
• Teach employees the basics of weight loss. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to consume a moderate, nutritious diet and exercise regularly. Period. Fad diets, fitness gadgets, and other get-thin-quick schemes won’t work. Obviously, though, plenty of people are buying into them or the sellers wouldn’t be doing such a booming business. Educate your employees on the realities of weight loss. A book such as Gilliam and Neill’s, Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.: Achieve a Healthier Workplace One Employee at a Time!, can serve as a solid foundation for your corporate effort.
• Get your employees excited about good nutrition. Create a “recipe” bulletin board—the old-fashioned “cork board” kind or the virtual online kind—so that employees can share the details of their delicious finds and their own culinary creations. Host a potluck lunch to which everyone brings his or her favorite healthful dish. Or ask employees to take turns bringing in fresh fruits, veggie trays, or other lowfat snacks for people to munch on during break. Don’t forget to remove all “junk food” from the premises. It’s hard to stay on track when vending machines packed with grease and sugar and trans fatty acids beckon with their sinister glow.
• Foster and encourage exercise groups. Human beings are social creatures. They are much more likely to sustain an exercise program if they have company. Hire an aerobics instructor to come in several times a week—during pre- or post-work hours—to lead everyone in a vigorous workout. Start a lunch-hour walking group. You might even put a treadmill, stair-step machine, and weight bench in a vacant room so that employees can have their own “gym.” (Just ask everyone to sign a waiver so you’re legally covered in case of injury.)
• Link weight loss to larger family issues. No one wants to be obese. But most people want their children to be obese even less. Offering to help employees set a healthy example for their children can be a powerful motivator. That’s why Gilliam’s Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy. program has a strong child-centric component—including cartoon characters with names like Heart “E” Heart, Sticky Lipid, and Thundering Triglyceride. “I’ve found that when you say to people, ‘Look, every time you open a new bag of potato chips and collapse in front of the TV, your kids are watching you,’ they pay attention,” he says. “Hey, guilt can be a very useful tool. Ask any mother.”
Ultimately, says Gilliam, prodding employees to take control of their body weight can start a cascade of positive results for companies—many of which may surprise you.
“Losing weight can be a very life-affirming experience,” he says. “People gain confidence. They get happier. They see firsthand the rewards of working hard to meet goals. Ultimately, this translates to more effective, productive employees who are likely to feel intense loyalty to you for helping them turn things around. So a company that empowers people to lose weight may not only see an improvement in healthcare costs, it may gain better employees. And that, in and of itself, is a good reason to make the commitment.”
# # #
About the Authors:
Thomas B. Gilliam, Ph. D., is a pioneer and acknowledged expert in the field of dynamic strength testing for industry based on the sports medicine model. Since 1982, Dr. Gilliam has provided isokinetic physical capability assessments for Fortune 1000 companies. Dr. Gilliam’s programs have dramatically reduced worker’s compensation costs and decreased injury incidence and severity rates for major industrial clients. In addition, Dr. Gilliam has been instrumental in identifying and presenting to industries the higher risk for injury and disease caused by obesity in the workplace.
Dr. Gilliam is the creator of the Heart “E” Heart program, which is a healthy lifestyle program for children and their families. He was the principal investigator in a National Institutes of Health research study investigating the impact of physical activity and nutritional habits on heart disease risk in young children. This research in the late 1970s resulted in numerous scholarly publications, and television and radio interviews throughout the world, including NBC’s Today Show and NBC’s Evening News with their science editor Robert Basel.
In 1973, Dr. Gilliam earned a doctorate degree from Michigan State University in exercise physiology with a minor in graduate statistics and research design. From 1974 to 1982, Dr. Gilliam was on the faculty at the University of Michigan. Before resigning from his tenured faculty position, he was involved with numerous funded research projects (i.e. N.I.H., Kellogg Foundation, State of Michigan, and others) that resulted in 29 refereed, scholarly publications.
Jane C. Neill, R.D., L.D., is the 2004 recipient of the Nutritionist of the Year Award for the State of Alabama Public Health. She is an active member of the American Dietetic Association and currently employed by the Alabama Department of Public Health, where she works with the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program as a WIC coordinator and a licensed dietitian. She has worked in the WIC program for over 10 years, providing daily nutrition counseling for women, infants, and children.
While on the staff as a registered dietitian at the University of Michigan Health System in the late 1970s, Jane was instrumental in working with Dr. Gilliam as an investigator on the National Institutes of Health research study to investigate the impact of physical activity and nutritional habits on heart disease risk in children ages six to eight years.
Ms. Neill is a member of the team that developed and wrote the Heart “E” Heart program for children and their families.
She received her bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Alabama in 1977 in food, nutrition, and institutional management. Ms. Neill has been working as a registered dietitian for over 27 years.
About the Book:
Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.: Achieve a Healthier Workplace One Employee at a Time! (T. Gilliam & Associates, LLC, 2005, ISBN: 0-9762703-0-7, $19.95) is available in bookstores nationwide and through all major online booksellers.
For more information, visit www.healthybodyweight.com
|
