Employers Look for Ways to 'Lighten' Their Work Forces

Jan. 3, 2006 — -- Holiday overeating, followed by the repentant promise to lose weight is as American as the apple pie so many of us scarf down in December. This year, as weight loss companies gear up for an influx of clients armed with New Year's resolutions, corporations are joining in.

The number of obese Americans is climbing -- research from the National Center for Health Statistics determined 65 percent of U.S. adults are overweight, and 30 percent are obese. As health-care costs rise and more and more health problems are linked to weight, corporations are searching for ways to assess and address employees' weight problems to keep company expenses down.

But it might not be as simple as putting everyone on a diet.

January is the biggest month for the weight-loss industry. Every year programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers see an early year spike in new customers as thousands sign up to undo the damage of the holiday eating season. Both companies have numerous corporate partnerships with businesses eager to reduce health-care costs, and they say employers have become more interested in taking an active role in weight loss.

"In business, it all comes down to the bottom line, and what they're realizing is that an overweight work force is hurting their bottom lines," said Barbara Fulmer, director of corporate sales at Jenny Craig.. "They're looking at how weight problems affect time off of work and office visits and how those things affect health-care costs."

At the same time, insurance companies are offering an ever-expanding list of weight-management services, and researchers are even trying to determine whether obesity limits the work done by employees while on the job.

One study published in the late 1990s showed that weight-related health problems lead to 39 million workdays missed every year and 239 million days of restricted activity.

In the past, most businesses calculated health costs only in terms of absences and medical expenses paid to an insurer. The question companies now ask is: How much does that "restricted activity" cost in terms of lost productivity? Researchers are trying to answer that question.

Integrated Benefits Institute, a nonprofit health benefits research organization in California, estimates that obesity is the seventh leading health problem in the U.S. work force. But in terms of lost productivity, obesity is the sixth-most prevalent health problem. Employees who might be considered "well" under the old paradigm of just measuring attendance and doctors' visits are actually a drain on overall productivity.

"It negatively affects productivity even when a person is sitting at a desk or working in a factory or whatever it is they do," said Thomas Parry, president of IBI. "It's not just an issue of absenteeism."

"The effort is to quantify how much work time is affected and tell people, 'This is what it really costs your company,'" Parry said.

At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, employees have participated in a 10-week "Dump the Plump" contest for the past five years. More than 3,600 pounds were lost by 530 employees who competed in teams for cash prizes collected from employee entry fees last year.

Besides helping them learn to live a healthier life, participants say they benefit from bonding with their co-workers.

"There's a lot of team building involved," said Cliff Englehart. "People on my team are people I work with every day but this is great because it's not really work-related. My boss is on the team and I got to yell at him. So that was fun."

Ron Kessler, an epidemiology professor at Harvard Medical School, has studied the impact of health problems on work productivity for the past 10 years. His current study focuses on three negative impacts of health problems on the job: absenteeism, the frequency of critical incidents or accidents at work and "presenteeism" -- the measure of how hard a person works while on the job.

The study, which has monitored corporations and business groups across the world, uses a combination of employee self-reports and company performance data to measure employee productivity. Kessler stressed that being overweight probably doesn't keep a person from doing most types of work, particularly white-collar office work. But obesity is known to be linked to insomnia, low energy levels and depression, all of which may prevent a person from performing at peak level of productivity.

Kessler said the research showed obese employees consistently have higher absentee rates, show a higher likelihood of workplace accidents and a lower of level of productivity. All these can cost businesses money, sometimes even a lot.

"If someone has an accident at work and ends up having huge medical bills, it could cost a company thousands of dollars, or even more if there are legal issues," Kessler said. "It might be that it's not just a humanitarian thing to help your employees with weight problems -- it's also good business."

Companies are listening. Parry said IBI research shows a growing desire by employers to place an emphasis on promoting healthy behaviors. Over the past several years, many have redirected their health-care spending to a wellness model, which often includes offering weight-management programs like Jenny Craig and discounts at gyms to encourage employees to live healtheir lifestyles.

But the discounts are not a big enough incentive. Jenny Craig said she has seen not only an increase in the number of companies looking for weight-management programs but also a rise in companies looking to beef up existing partnerships. Many now promote weight management as a primary goal of their health programs, rather than just a perk.

"Last year they'd put us on their checklist of discounts to offer, and that was pretty much it. But now they're incorporating us into their overall health-care initiative," Fulmer said. "It's becoming louder and louder."

Health insurers have also seen an increased demand for weight-management programs. Health-care provider Cigna is one of the companies that has partnered with both Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, offering its own employees up to 50 percent off, as well as many of the 9.1 million Americans who are members of Cigna medical plans.

"Employers are increasingly looking for aggressively managed obesity programs," said Dr. Andrea Gelzer, Cigna's vice president of clinical public affairs.

Corporate partnerships offer similar discounts, which can save employees $100 on startup costs and up to an additional $100 a month off the prepared meals offered in the Jenny Craig program.

Cigna health plans also give employers the option of offering what the company calls high-risk obesity management programs -- designed in the last three to five years as studies link obesity to health problems.

The high-risk plans treat obesity as a behavioral issue and put obese employees in touch with nurse coaches who help them adjust their eating and lifestyle habits. It's a more hands-on approach than simply suggesting diet plans, but Gelzer said many employers have been open to the idea because they realize the increasing prevalence of obesity costs them money.

"They're looking for a rational way to manage it, but they're willing to invest a lot if they believe it will address the problem and lower their costs," Gelzer said.

And the beginning of the year may be the perfect time for companies to promote healthier living, as a lot of them will already have weight loss on their minds. The weight-loss companies say they're more than happy to help out.

"There's no better time to do it than now," Jenny Craig's Fulmer said. "They've laid the foundation in December to get everything ready for January when their employees are coming back from the holidays and looking for ways to lose those extra holiday pounds."