Eating well when you’re busy isn’t always easy. Even if you plan to eat healthy snacks and salads, you may find yourself reaching for doughnuts and chips when you’re short on time or stressed. To make matters worse, some people don’t know which food items are best for their health. Employers can help by embracing corporate wellness nutrition programs as part of their employee benefits strategy.
The Impact of Poor Nutrition on Employee Health
An unhealthy treat every once in a while probably won’t hurt you, but eating unhealthy foods every day can be detrimental to your health. When combined with a sedentary lifestyle, which is a common problem for office workers, the effects are even worse.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 74 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Poor diet combined with a lack of physical activity are the main contributing factors. Negative effects can include an increased risk for the development of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, some types of cancer and other chronic health conditions.
Nutritional Deficiencies Are on the Rise
In addition to overeating, many Americans are struggling with nutritional deficiencies.
Scurvy, a disease caused by a severe lack of vitamin C and traditionally associated with sailors who lived in harsh conditions hundreds of years ago, is becoming more prevalent. According to research published in the Journal of the AAOS, the number of scurvy cases increased more than threefold between 2016 and 2020. While scurvy is still rare, this increase suggests that the U.S. has serious nutritional problems.
A lack of food literacy could be at least partially to blame. A study published in the American Journal of Health Behavior found that young adults with poor health literacy were less likely to use food labels when selecting food and more likely to have an unhealthy diet. In contrast, people who regularly use food labels to make dietary decisions tend to make better choices and have better health outcomes.
Poor Nutrition Comes at a Cost
Poor nutrition doesn’t just cost people in terms of their health and wellness – it can also have a major impact on the cost of health care and health insurance. According to research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, heart-related diseases caused by unhealthy eating cost the American health care system approximately $50 billion a year. However, this study only looked at cardiometabolic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. When you add in other diseases associated with poor nutrition, the costs are even higher.
Poor nutrition can also negatively impact worker productivity by bringing down overall employee health and well-being. Employees who are unhealthy may need to take more sick days to deal with health problems. Their poor health may also negatively impact their sleep and cognitive functioning.
Should your company start a corporate nutrition program?
Given how widespread the problem of poor nutrition is (and how costly it can be for businesses), investing in a corporate nutrition program may make financial sense. Since nutrition is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, it follows that any comprehensive wellness program should address healthy eating.
The potential advantages are numerous. Employers that promote healthy eating habits may be able to help improve the physical and mental health of their employees. In the long run, this may be successful at bringing down long-term health care costs while improving employee well-being and engagement.
At the same time, there may be some drawbacks to consider. A lack of resources could be an issue. Employers already invest a lot of resources into employee compensation and may not want to add another benefit. There is also a risk that a poorly planned nutrition program might not be well-received by employees. Participation rates could be low, and some employees may interpret the program as a criticism of their eating habits or weight.
These potential drawbacks deserve consideration, but they do not necessarily mean you cannot implement nutrition employee benefits successfully. The key is to identify a nutrition wellness option that meets the needs of your company and your employees.
Corporate Nutrition Programs
Employee nutrition programs can take many forms, such as:
- Education. Some people lack the knowledge to make healthy food choices and adopt healthy habits. Employers can help by providing nutrition classes or nutrition counseling. For example, you could offer an online workshop or provide access to nutritional counseling with registered dietitians. In addition to resources to help workers themselves eat better, parents may be interested in resources to help them provide better nutrition for their children. This could be as a standalone benefit or part of a larger program, such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
- Apps. There are many apps available for setting wellness goals, analyzing food choices and discovering healthy recipes. Paying the subscription to an app may be an easy way to educate workers.
- Healthy food. Employers often treat their workers by providing them with food. More often than not, though, the food in question is not particularly healthy. Instead of stocking breakrooms with chips and cookies, consider providing fresh fruit and nuts. Instead of pizza, order salads.
- Cooking classes. A cooking class that focuses on preparing healthy food can be a great way to empower workers to make better food choices. This could also be a good team-building experience.
Launching a Nutrition Program
If you think a nutrition program could help your company achieve its goals, it’s important to strategically plan and implement the program.
- Select the best program to start with. You don’t need to launch multiple initiatives at once. Instead, select one that fits your current budget and addresses the most pressing needs of your workers, which could be determined through a survey.
- Iron out the details. For example, if you want to offer an app, you’ll need to decide which to offer. Other details to work out include eligibility requirements. Will all employees be eligible for the benefits or will there be restrictions?
- Spread the word. In addition to raising awareness, you need to build excitement. Telling employees once won’t be enough. Instead, you may need to provide a series of announcements using multiple methods of communication, such as emails, texts and in-person conversations. It’s also helpful to get managers on board to generate buzz for the program.
- Assess and adjust. Once your program has been in effect for a while, assess its effectiveness. Do this by measuring participation rates and by conducting surveys to see how employees feel about the program, including whether it’s helped them eat better. Based on the results, adjust your program as needed.
Incorporating nutrition into your corporate wellness program is one way to take care of your employees while potentially controlling your health care costs. Higginbotham can help you explore even more ideas. Talk to one of our employee benefit consultants today to learn more.
