Obesity/Weight Management Employer Survey and Interview Project

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play in instituting organizational policy and supportand emphasis on employees’ personal responsibilityfor health and safety. In addition, they do not wantto be seen as overly invasive or intrusive.E Leadership is necessary at all levels. A recurringtheme present in the responses is the need forleadership. The importance of leadership is nota new issue, but the findings suggest that a wayto secure leadership interest and commitment isto embed and integrate the issue of overweight/obesity and weight management into both healthand safety functions, issues which respondents sawas linked. Employers are already committed to thesafety of their employees, and this focus can beleveraged to add obesity prevention programs intothe worksite.E Resources and partners are needed. Mostemployers are actively seeking information from avariety of sources to start or improve their wellnessprograms (including components related tooverweight/obesity). However, existing resourcesoften do not effectively support the smallestemployers. In addition, respondents showed apreference for organizations that currently workmost closely with the individual employer. Thishands-on approach provides opportunities todevelop new information and relationships withorganizations at the community level.The next step in this work will be to translate thefindings into materials targeted to the variousstakeholders of worksite health: policymakers,employers and/or management, state and local publichealth practitioners, and employees. More specifically,these findings will help guide the development of aset of actionable tools and information that will helpstimulate employer, employee, and other stakeholderengagement in obesity prevention and control efforts.The goal is to communicate to small and medium-sizebusinesses the threat obesity poses to their currentand future workforce, what actions they can take toaddress this topic within their businesses, and howtheir engagement in community initiatives may help tocontrol the costs of obesity.2National Business Coalition on Health
BackgroundOver the past thirty years, the number of overweightAmericans has reached epidemic proportions. More thantwo-thirds of all adults and one-third of all children inthe United States are now overweight; of these, 34% ofadults and 17% of children and adolescents are obese. 4A newly released study in The Lancet analyzes the risingrate of obesity in terms of the burden from associateddiseases — diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, andcancers. It shows increasing trends in both the numbersof obese persons and the associated cost, with modelingto demonstrate the economic benefits that effectiveprograms and policies would have on the population. 5No state has met the nation’s Healthy People 2010goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%. The numberof states with an obesity prevalence of 30% or morehas increased from 0 states in 2000 to nine statesin 2009 and to 12 states in 2010. Healthy People2020 discusses obesity with a primary objective ofaddressing nutrition and weight status and includesspecific recommendations for worksites. 6 Obesity islinked to many conditions that result in increased healthcare costs. 7 Obesity-related conditions include heartdisease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types ofcancer, some of the leading causes of death. Individualswho are obese have 30 to 50 % more chronic medicalproblems than those who smoke or drink heavily. In2008, medical costs associated with obesity wereestimated at $147 billion; the medical costs paid bythird-party payers for people who are obese were$1,429 higher than those of normal weight. 8 With highobesity rates in the United States, associated healthcare costs can directly affect employer profits.The total cost of obesity to U.S. companies, accordingto the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,is estimated at $13 billion a year, including healthinsurance costs ($8 billion), sick leave ($2.4 billion),life insurance ($1.8 billion), and disability insurance($1 billion). 9 Roughly 8 % of private employer medicalclaims are a result of problems associated with beingoverweight or obese, according to a study in the policyjournal Health Affairs. 10 Another study found thatobesity-related disabilities cost employers an averageof $8,720 per claimant every year for wage-losscoverage. In addition, obesity has a strong impact onworker injuries. 11A study published in the October 2010 Journal ofOccupational and Environmental Medicine revealedthat work-related factors may impact the total costof obesity among U.S. full-time employees evenmore than direct medical costs. 12 The Duke Universityresearch team reported the total per capita cost toemployers of obesity among U.S. full-time employeesto be a staggering $73.1 billion. For the first time, theresearchers reportedly factored in the total value of lostjob productivity as a result of obesity-related healthproblems (presenteeism) and absence from work(absenteeism). The study included data from the 2006Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and the 2008 U.S.National Health and Wellness Survey in the evaluationof individuals who were normal weight, overweightand obese, using body mass index calculations (BMI).While presenteeism was determined to represent thegreatest cost among employees at a healthy weight,researchers found that obese workers accounted for aObesity/Weight Management Employer Survey and Interview Project 3
Page 1: Obesity/WeightManagementEmployer Su
Page 5: Executive SummaryA person’s place
Page 10 and 11: ApproachNBCH, CDC, and NSC develope
Page 12 and 13: esponsibilities associated with a j
Page 14 and 15: Length of Time Obesity Program in P
Page 16 and 17: A workplace culture of health provi
Page 18 and 19: Employer Ranking for Importance of
Page 20 and 21: Barriers for Employers to Take Acti
Page 22 and 23: plans and vendors or consultants. T
Page 24 and 25: Existing Community Partnerships. Re
Page 26 and 27: Figure 14. Continuum of Program Evo
Page 28 and 29: those individuals in the safety fun
Page 32 and 33: The small number of employers curre
Page 34 and 35: E Employers need information to dem
Page 36 and 37: Recommendation 2Help Employers addr
Page 38 and 39: Endnotes1. Sepulveda M, Tait F, Zim
Page 40 and 41: Your organization’s industry type
Page 42 and 43: When thinking about the potential i
Page 44 and 45: F. SafetyNot Important Neutral Impo
Page 46 and 47: N. Strategies and ActionsNot Import
Page 48 and 49: D. My employees are knowledgeable r
Page 50 and 51: As an employer, how much of a barri
Page 52 and 53: Barrier: Lack of employee data on o
Page 54 and 55: Centers for Disease Control and Pre
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Information Use: To educate employe
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Product: Web ToolsEmployer Size Not
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Communication Means: Training or De
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How important to you is each of the
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Partnership Benefit: Access to usef
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As an employer, how much of a barri
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Partnership Barrier: Partner’s re
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4. From your own experience, what i
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then move on to successful ways to
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Discussed in prior questions.23. Fr
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access on a voluntary basis to a he
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employees. Others have included wor
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E Sample policies and other tools e
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specifically (YES/NO)? Thinking abo
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75. Can you discuss why you feel th
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National Business Coalition on Heal
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