Getting the Weight Off: Employers Can Help Workers Lose Weight

The NBC television reality series "The Biggest Loser" pits 18 corpulent contestants against one another as they vie for a $250,000 grand prize by trying to lose weight. Each week, another person is voted off the show for failing to pare enough pounds.

As you look around your organization,

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 66 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. It's in employers' best interest to offer a weight-management component in benefits or wellness plans. Many employees want access to diet and exercise options, which can boost morale while helping to decrease health care costs.

Obesity costs U.S. companies an estimated $13 billion per year, according to the CDC. Higher costs for health insurance take up the largest percentage of that sum, at $8 billion, followed by costs for paid sick leave and life and disability insurance.

Health insurance costs for overweight employees range from $5,000 to $7,800 per year, compared with an average $3,900 for employees in the normal weight range, according to a January 2007 analysis of workplace health screenings done by Kronos Optimal Health Co., a Phoenix health-management company.

Being overweight constitutes a risk factor for many diseases and conditions. But experts say in most instances it's largely preventable and that weight management can be achieved through diet and nutrition guidance, fitness and exercise tips or programs, and behavioral change. "Weight-management programs can benefit all employers, regardless of their location, industry or size," says Michele Becker, vice president with Aon Consulting's Health & Benefits practice in Somerset, N.J.

At the same time, employers should recognize that researchers have yet to identify the best ways to help people lose weight and keep it off. An evaluation of commercial weight-loss programs in the January 2005 Annals of Internal Medicine states, "Few high-quality studies have assessed weight-loss programs. Many of the existing studies present the best-case scenario because they do not account for people who drop out of the programs.