Promoting Worksite Wellness
What is Worksite Wellness?
More than 60% of adults work, and many spend 2,000 or more hours a year at work. Worksite wellness makes the places they work healthier. An ideal healthy worksite has opportunities for employees to:
- be physically active
- eat healthful foods
- live tobacco-free
A 2002 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study noted that companies with physical activity programs for employees have reduced health care costs by 20 percent to 55 percent, reduced short-term sick leave by up to 32 percent and increased productivity by up to 52 percent.
These worksite wellness pages offer tools and resources for enhancing physical activity and nutrition and decreasing tobacco-use at the worksite. They are based on the NYSDOH Healthy Heart Program's 10 years of experience funding worksite wellness programs and are designed for individual worksites to create healthier environments for employees. The topics covered focus on chronic disease (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, cancer) prevention and target changes that make it easier to be physically active and eat healthful foods.