[PHNUTR-L] Press Release: New Worksite Wellness Website LEANWorks!

[Kuester, Sarah (CDC/CCHP/NCCDPHP)]

Please pardon the cross-posting. 

Below is a press release about the release of the CDC website LEANWorks!
with resources on worksite wellness for nutrition and physical activity.

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PRESS RELEASE 

For Immediate Release                           Contact:  CDC Media
Relations 
June 25, 2009                                              404-639-3286


CDC Introduces New Website to Help Employers Combat Obesity and Reduce
Health-Related Costs 


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today unveiled
LEANWorks!, a Website designed to help businesses address obesity.  LEAN
stands for Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition.  The new Website
was announced at a National Business Group on Health meeting in
Washington, D.C.

"CDC LEANWorks! was developed in direct response to organizations asking
CDC for help in addressing the obesity epidemic.  Specifically they
wanted to know what interventions were effective in helping employees
maintain a healthy weight," said William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of
CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.  "CDC has
identified science-based interventions that work to prevent and control
obesity.  CDC LEANWorks!  provides the tools that employers need to take
action."

The free Website was developed particularly for small and mid-size
companies, which typically have more limited resources to devote to
obesity prevention efforts.  However, the tools and resources available
on CDC LEANWorks! can benefit companies of any size.  CDC LEANWorks! can
help employers calculate the cost of obesity for their organizations and
develop tailored approaches to help control these costs through
interventions such as fitness classes, lunchtime health education
sessions, weight management programs, and more.

The Website provides a variety of resources to employers including: 

	*	An obesity cost-calculator where employers can input
employee demographic data to estimate the total costs associated with
obesity and determine annual obesity-related medical costs for their
companies. 
	*	Information and resources to help employers plan, build,
promote, and assess interventions to combat obesity. 
	*	Information on how employers can estimate return on
investment, a measure of the cost of an intervention compared to the
expected financial return of the intervention. 
		

Obesity is a risk factor for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes,
stroke, and heart disease.  Obese individuals spend 77 percent more
money for necessary medications than non-obese persons.  

"Obesity affects more than just health care costs.  It also has a
significant impact on worker productivity because the more chronic
diseases employees have, the more likely they are to be absent from
work, or less productive if they come to work sick," said Janet Collins,
Ph.D., director of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
and Health Promotion.  

Because organizations do not usually publish information about their
worksite programs in the scientific literature, CDC visited select
businesses to identify promising worksite obesity prevention and control
practices.  The CDC LEANWorks! website provides case studies from some
of those businesses to provide examples of successful worksite obesity
prevention programs.

"Workplace obesity prevention programs can be an effective way for
employers to reduce obesity and lower their health care costs, lower
absenteeism and increase employee productivity," said Dr. Dietz.
Employers may also see other indirect benefits when they implement these
programs such as improved employee morale, increased worker retention,
and improved recruitment of new employees." 

To learn more about CDC LEANWorks! visit www.cdc.gov/leanworks
<http://www.cdc.gov/leanworks> .  For more information about CDC's
efforts to combat obesity please visit www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa
<http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa> . 

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


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