Employee Health Promotion Programs: Low-Cost Activities That Work
John Bates
September 17, 2008
Employee Health Promotion Programs that support workers and the setting that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment. Employee Health Promotion Programs may be extensive and sometimes expensive. However, there are ways for small businesses to make positive changes at little or no cost.
Employee Health Promotion Program: Nutrition Activities
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
1. Offer healthy eating reminders and prompts to workers via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).
2. Offer low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.
3. Offer cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for workers´ families.
4. Ensure onsite cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
5. Offer healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.
6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.
7. Offer healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).
8. Offer taste-testing opportunities at the worksite.
9. Offer worker-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.
10. Offer local fruits and vegetables at the worksite (i.e. worksite farmer´s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).
11. Use competitive pricing (for example, price the unhealthy foods in vending machines at higher prices).
12. Offer protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
13. Make kitchen equipment available to workers.
14. Offer an opportunity for onsite gardening if possible.
Consumption of Sweetened Beverages
1. Make water available throughout the day.
2. Offer appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.
3. Modify worksite vending contracts to raise the number of healthy options.
4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.
5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.
Portion Control
1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.
2. Offer food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help workers assess portion size.
3. Offer appropriate portion sizes at meetings, worksite events and in the cafeteria.
Breastfeeding
1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed setting, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.
2. Offer flexible scheduling and/or onsite or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.
3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
4. Educate employees on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.
Television & Food Advertising
1. Place TV's in non-eating areas of the worksite.
2. Limit advertising in the cafeteria.
Employee Health Promotion Program: Nutrition Activities
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
1. Offer healthy eating reminders and prompts to workers via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).
2. Offer low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.
3. Offer cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for workers´ families.
4. Ensure onsite cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
5. Offer healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.
6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.
7. Offer healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).
8. Offer taste-testing opportunities at the worksite.
9. Offer worker-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.
10. Offer local fruits and vegetables at the worksite (i.e. worksite farmer´s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).
11. Use competitive pricing (for example, price the unhealthy foods in vending machines at higher prices).
12. Offer protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
13. Make kitchen equipment available to workers.
14. Offer an opportunity for onsite gardening if possible.
Consumption of Sweetened Beverages
1. Make water available throughout the day.
2. Offer appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.
3. Modify worksite vending contracts to raise the number of healthy options.
4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.
5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.
Portion Control
1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.
2. Offer food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help workers assess portion size.
3. Offer appropriate portion sizes at meetings, worksite events and in the cafeteria.
Breastfeeding
1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed setting, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.
2. Offer flexible scheduling and/or onsite or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.
3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
4. Educate employees on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.
Television & Food Advertising
1. Place TV's in non-eating areas of the worksite.
2. Limit advertising in the cafeteria.