Obesity is a growing concern in Canada and due to the increased time spent in one’s place of employment, there is an augmented importance placed on healthy living in the workplace. In 2004, approximately 6.8 million Canadian adults between the ages of 20 and 64 were overweight, and an additional 4.5 million were obese as recorded by the Canadian Policy Research Networks (Pierre, N., Pollack, N., & Fafard, P. 2007), further emphasizing the need to reduce obesity rates and to improve overall health. This demographic represents primarily the working population, which is the target population in respect to promoting active living in the workplace. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the “impact of the obesity epidemic on non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer threatens to overwhelm health systems; the need for prevention and control is clear” (ECOSOC/UNESCWA/WHO, 2009)
There are a substantial number of policies in place in hopes to reduce obesity rates as well as encourage active living. However, there seems to be a large gap between why the policies are implemented in hopes to achieve a set outcome, and the knowledge of appropriate and effective steps to go about producing the desired change. Additionally, while there are policies in place with the intent of reducing obesity rates, there are few to none that with the intent of promoting active living within the workplace.
While the strain on the health care system is evidently a major issue, poor health of employees also has been proven to negatively affect the overall performance in the workplace. Alternatively, good health in the workplace has been proven to reduce absenteeism, reduce the costs of disability and dru...
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...mmission. (2013). Issue:Workplace. Mental Health Commission of Canada. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/issues/workplace?page=1&terminitial=30
Ministry of Health. (2013). Promote Physical Activity. – Healthy Environments. Retrieved December 3, 2013, from http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/environments/whttps://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Physical-Activity/Keep-Active-at-Work#.Uqd295FxsZY
Ministry Of H. P. (2007). Ontario's Sport and Physical Activity Strategies. Active 2010, 1. Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://www.mhp.gov.on.ca/en/active-living/about/active2010-strategy-e.pdf
Ontario's action plan for healthy eating and active living. (2006). Toronto, Ont.: Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion.
Pierre, N., Pollack, N., & Fafard, P. (2007). Health Policies and Trends for Selected Target Groups in Canada.
Both the risk factors and the effects of obesity are now more terrifying than any other preventable disease to both the population and the economy of Canada. In a survey of seventeen developed countries, Canada placed only tenth in life expectancy and wellbeing, while placing fourth in the highest spending on healthcare(Flood). A large factor in Canada’s state of poor well-being is obesity; obesity causes one in ten premature deaths of people aged twenty to sixty-four(Ogilvie) and is a leading cause of many life-threatening illnesses: “Obesity is recognized as a major and rapidly worsening public health problem that rivals smoking as a cause of illness and premature death. Obesity has been linked with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease, some forms of cancer, osteoarthritis,
As a large sedentary community, the Mid Atlantic Consolidated Patient Accounts Center (MACPAC) has a great need to promote exercise and healthy eating habits in the workplace. Currently more than one-third of the country suffers from obesity. It is my hope that with the help of the Wellness Committee we can continue to improve healthy lifestyle changes, and curb the epidemic of obesity that our country has. I am currently finishing my Masters in Public Health, and need to do a service project for the community. It is my hope that the MACPAC will be a place where we can start this change from sedentary lifestyles, to a more healthy and active
We need to acknowledge that our methods to control overweight and obesity may commence, but must not conclude with individual accountability. Only a number of diseases require a general approach, other than the effort to hold and decrease the levels of overweight and obesity, and in few places are the stakes higher. Employers seem to have accepted this and are attempting to develop programs to address it.
Obesity is a rising problem in the United States. With obesity rates on the rise something must be done to prevent this massive issue. There are ways to help including educating at young ages, improving nutrition facts at restaurants, and providing more space for citizens to get physically active.
In the UK as well as in other developed countries, obesity is becoming a growing problem this puts pressure on health services and affects individuals’ ability to work, and contribute to the economy. The government feels the pressure to act by taxing unhealthy foods and drinks, and by setting up educational campaigns, (Stephen Adams, 2011).
This is an essay written in the MIT Sloan Management Review that presents the correlation between businesses and the issue of obesity in order to persuade businesses to take action in regards to preventing the issue. Therefore, its target audience is anyone who currently works in business or plans to do so in the future. In this review, the author begins by citing four internal and external reasons for which businesses should care about obesity: self-preservation, public criticism, employee productivity, and opportunity. The author proceeds by providing an idea as to how businesses can assist in reversing the trend. In order to do so, he analyzes what he considers to be the two sides of the obesity problem: physical activity and food consumption.
The government has a well-developed and wide-ranging programme to increase levels of physical activity (Department of Health, 2015). Included in their health promotion schemes are: investing £222 million in programmes such as Physical Education in schools, Change for life sports clubs, messages to increase the amount of cycling and walking undertaken, publicity campaigns including sport England’s This Girl Campaign (Department of Health, 2015) and working with organisations to promote healthy living including subsided gym
Obesity prevalence in Canada has tripled over the last 30 years (Statistics Canada). Moreover, a recent study by the University of Manitoba by Dr. Henry Janzen has suggested that 90% of Canada’s adolescents are physically inactive. Even though, Manitoba is the only province in Canada in which physical education credits between grade 9 to grade 12 are required for graduation, the program is facing several complexities from the large class size, limited space, and specialist versus generalist teachers’ issue. Thus, physical education programs needs to be enforced and should be mandatory nationwide.
Fitness programs can reduce absenteeism. There are many documented situations of fitness and wellness programs are effective. In a one-year study of over 500 employees, each took part in a work place fitness program. The for each employee that worked out as little one day a week, cut their average number of sick days in half, from over ten sick days on average in the previous year without any activity to less than five in the following year. The report also showed that the employees that did not maintain a workout load of at least once a week did not reduce any sick-days. (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1997; 39:827-831) Each of the participants followed a one-hour supervised workout consisting of a warm-up, stretching, calisthenics, cardiovascular and strength-building program. Later in the study Dr. Lilian Lechner, M.P.H. stated, “While previous studies have found that employees most likely to partake in workplace fitness programs are those who already get the most regular exercise and tend to be in better health, the current show that work-based fitness offers added health benefits for employees regardless of their fitness level.
The government plays an important part in our safety, but many people think they take it too far. Recently, people have thought more and more about how much involvement the government should have when it comes to food regulations. Some people think the government's involvement in regulating food would greatly help obesity rates, and others think the country's obesity rates would show little to no improvement. Although no one cause of obesity exists, and no government regulations will likely alter someone’s lifestyle choices, the government should implement some regulations by implementing programs to educate and encourage citizens to lead a healthier life and by requiring companies to list a full disclosure of ingredients on their products.
Introduction: Obesity is one of the nation 's fastest-growing health problems. This video show that there are problems caused by people who most organizations and businesses have policies about accommodating the obese. The corporate world is completely full of heavyset employees, reason of obesity. Corporate wellness is the key to solve this problem of employees in Florida.
People are consuming too many calories and aren’t physically active, because of changed lifestyles and technology advancement, in the last 20 years. Both adults and children pass a lot of time watching the television, playing video games and researching or chatting on the computer. These lifestyle changes encourage sedentary behavior. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that in their study to calculate obesity across the nation. In 2010 “no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%” compared to a maximum of 15% to 19% in 15 to 20 states in 1994 (CDC, 2011). Physical inactivity and high calorie intake from processed food has made big changes to our health. Now days people don’t even cycle or walk to the grocery store, or at least walk to the nearest bus station to go to school or work. Every year people’s physical inactivity increases while our eating habit become worse.
We live in a lazy nation and one that suffers from many health related issues associated with obesity. “Obesity is a national health crisis…”(Freedman 1). People are not very understanding of the effects of obesity. “ Health risks of obesity… cardiovascular disease, asthma, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, uterine an...
Health education is one of public health’s priorities as it pertains to maintaining quality health. Health education allows for the public’s (i.e. the community as a whole) understanding of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle by aiding in their decisions towards healthy lifestyle choices. It is however important to note that the effectiveness of health education and promotion programs vary from one to the other based on their focus population (McKenzie, Neiger & Thackeray, 2013). An example of a population focused health education and promotion is the “healthy eating and lose the pounds program”. This is a public health program initiative that is geared towards addressing the issue of obesity and its related health issues in Prince Georges
World Health Organization. November, 2013. Global strategy on diet, physical activity, and health. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/pa/en/index.html.