FACTS

1. Employers are now recognizing that by actively encouraging good health amongst their employees and creating a healthy working environment makes sound business sense. It not only improves staff morale and motivation but it also leads to a healthier, happier workforce with less sickness absences.
2. The United States has the highest obesity rate in the world. In 2016, ten U.S. states reported that approximately 70 percent of their population was either overweight or obese, pointing to a significant public health crisis.
3. Although there is a continued debate about the exact cause of obesity, 48 percent of Americans believe that the primary cause of obesity is poor diet and exercise, rather than genetic, environmental, and social factors.
4. Despite the fact that most Americans are overweight or obese, obesity is often seen as unattractive or a sign of laziness or poor character, which drives much of the motivation to lose weight.
5. Adults working full time spend a majority of their waking hours in their place of work and consume at least a third of their daily calorie allowance during their working day. Therefore the workplace setting clearly has a key role to play in supporting and encouraging adults to make healthier food choices. The captive audience within the workplace makes it an ideal setting to promote healthy eating.

STATS

Odds of dying from obesity (being at least 30 pounds overweight) because of a sedentary lifestyle: 1 in 10,767 (American Council on Science and Health)

• Obese workers file twice the number of workers’ compensation claims as non-obese workers, according to a Duke University Medical Center study.
• Obese men between the ages of 18 and 34 are four times more likely to miss work than their co-workers who are not overweight.
• Only nine percent of Canadians ages five through 19 meet recommended physical activity guidelines.
• One in five Americans (20 percent of the population) is considered obese.
• For optimal health, people are encouraged to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity on at least five days of each week.
• More than half of all Canadians are considered inactive.