Employer bulks up for better health: class helps employees lose weight, understand nutrition.

One-on-one counseling, a healthy cooking demonstration and a field trip to the local grocery store all are part of one employer's attempt to promote healthier living for its workers.

The "Healthy Body, Healthy Heart Weight Loss Class" at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif.,

The class is just one of the employer's array of health benefits. Others include medical assessments, nutrition programs, personal trainers, bicycles for riding across campus, a small health library and fitness facilities.

Its focus on a healthy workforce placed Sandia among six employers receiving the Gold Award at California's recent 2007 Fit Business Awards Ceremony.

But while the "Healthy Body, Healthy Heart" class has been available to its 1,000 to 1,200 Livermore employees since spring 2003, Sandia wasn't happy with what seemed to be short-term improvements for class members, according to Edwinson.

Prior to restructuring the course in spring 2007, a dietitian-led class focused on basic information such as portions and calories. Although class members saw a 75 percent to 80 percent success rate upon the course's conclusion, six months to a year later they were gaining weight and no longer exercising, Edwinson said. The results were akin to short-term dieting.

Today, two people teach the class--a dietitian and Edwinson, who serves as health educator and coach--with a focus on nutrition and behavioral change. Each class member receives individual support, and, depending on demand, there is a support group after the 10-week session ends.

Eight to 10 people attended the support group after the last class ended in May, according to Edwinson.

"One of the reasons we changed the structure of the class was to make it more intensive" and to emphasize lifelong lifestyle changes, she said. The class looks at what's behind the failures of individual goals, and "if issues start to bubble up, we'll shift gears," she said.

Back Away from the Twinkie

People are enthralled with the idea of a new start, but for many, after six or seven weeks it's no longer fun, Edwinson noted.

"When the new change aura disappears and the old habits start to creep up, you just want to pick up the Twinkie" and sink back into old, comfortable habits, she said.

Class members receive a biometrics assessment that includes body mass index, body fat and blood sugar level measurements, as well as the resting metabolic rate.

Class members identify their goals for the class, and the dietitian uses results from the resting metabolic rate to help each class member set or make changes to his or her goals.

Students sign a contract agreeing to complete at least three days of food logs; during the program, counselors meet with class members privately to talk to them about those logs.

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The class is heavily goal-oriented, Edwinson said, and class members set a weekly goal that moves them closer to their overall objective. They complete individual homework related to their goal.

A person who consumes three high-calorie sodas per day, for example, might be assigned "homework" that limits his or her soda consumption gradually, Edwinson explained. All classes begin with individuals talking about the previous week's goal and how they fared. Private, voluntary weigh-ins with the dietitian may occur at the start of each class.

Classes meet once a week during lunchtime and are limited to 25 people, although the optimum size is 15, Edwinson said.

"If the classes are larger, it is much harder to provide individualized attention," Edwinson said. "The group dynamics provide an essential element of support, but the individualized component is equally, if not more, important.

"Each person has a unique set of circumstances, and some may need extra support in different areas--such as making the right food choices, or decreasing portions, or starting to exercise, or problems with bingeing."

KATHY GURCHIEK IS ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR HR NEWS.