Responsibility of Employers Another large debate in the issues and impacts of obesity is the responsibility of employer’s. Especially for those whose obesity comes from a sedentary lifestyle. Or perhaps need the preventative measures of keeping obesity at bay. A hot topic on the rise is whether or not employers should be mandated to give employees a work-out period in their schedule. The employers could offer employee’s incentives for utilizing resources (a company gym, discounted memberships, and dietician, walking a company track) and by using the resources keep costs low. Though initially it could be costly to take on the responsibility to offer extra incentives to employee’s it could offer long term potential savings. (Villareal, Apovian, Kushner, and Klein 2005) Those whose companies offer various programs and actively engage in them express more happiness, productivity, a greater quality of life, and overall better health. Better health allows for employee’s to serve their employers better. They use less sick pay, keep insurance premiums low, and are more likely to be in tune with their daily job. So while the initial cost may be high, the long term financial gain of a happy, healthy, productive team is hard not to invest in! Responsibility of Citizens Those who are overweight and obese not only impact themselves but they also impact their peers and fellow citizens. The responsibility of American’s to help those who are suffering from obesity is absent. This is understandable, considering we are not responsible for the actions of others. However, change arrives when other’s no longer stand idly by watching suffering. Those who suffer from addictions or psychiatric abnormalities experience greater success in getting back on... ... middle of paper ... ...system approximately $44 billion dollars annually (CDC). Obesity is defined as having a BMI of 29.5 or higher and is associated with inducing secondary diseases and illnesses that are not always irreversible. The impacts of the disease (or diseases) can afflict suffers with mental illnesses (anxiety, low confidence, depression,) or poorer IQ as children. Combining these together can produce a lower socio-economic status and inspire other problems related to that. Such as housing, careers, quality of life, financial troubles, that is hard to bring oneself out of alone. By offering support or putting together organizations coupled with self-determination we can assist those with obesity. Combined with employer incentives, mediation, and increased physical activity along with reduction in high caloric foods the rates of obesity and obesity related illnesses could drop.
“At least 25% of all Americans under age nineteen are overweight or obese” (161). In Greg Critser’s “Too Much of a Good Thing”, Critser, a published author of a book about the epidemic of obesity, explains how America has become obese. Critser published his piece in the Los Angeles Times in 2001 after the United Nations came to New York to discuss the rising issue of obesity. Critser moves on to listing facts and past studies to convince the audience of concerned parents that there is a problem. In Greg Critser’s article, the language of his argument embodies the threat of obesity by challenging emotions, providing logic, and giving examples from credible sources. The increase of obesity caused the United Nations to meet in New York to discuss the circumstance.
Employee wellness programs, also known as a “worksite wellness program”, are programs that are designed to promote and support the health, safety, and well being of a company’s employees. Wellness programs are meant to improve the health of the staff, their morale, and in turn also help improve their productivity. There are many components that make up employee wellness programs, for example; Health Screenings, Health Fairs, Fitness classes, Smoking cessation classes, and even wellness issue workshops. Employers have begun adopting these programs in hopes of helping their employees while they are at an age when health interventions can still help transform their long-term health choice. This paper will focus on trends found between employee weight and productivity, and the impacts these could have on a business overall.
Obesity is a huge problem that needs to be resolved because it affects all people, unlike most issues. People of every gender, every age, and every race are at risk of being obese. Obesity rates in America have nearly doubled within the last twenty years. Something must be done not only to prevent obesity rates continuous rising, but also to dramatically increase the percentage of obese people in America altogether.
Being obese seems to be a growing epidemic in the United States. It is not, just a problem with appearance and social life. Each person is accountable for its own health, control its own eating habits and the time devoted to exercising. Can we all be responsible to the decisions of a group of people? The answer, that shared by several is probably not. Nevertheless, in the last few years, this medical condition that increases the likelihood of a range of diseases in which excess body fat has accumulated to the point that it may have an unfavorable effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and increase health problems (Wikipedia, par.2). Obesity-related diseases are common these days, for each person there are significant risks of exceeding their own limits. It is difficult knowing that there is a person that can endanger their health, but continue with the same bad habits that can cause permanent damage. Obesity is becoming a problem that slowly gets out of hand, but little is being done to counter its growth. Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. Also, their symptoms are complex and specific to each person. Finally, society should not accept obesity as a disability. Therefore, obesity it is a growing food dependency problem that must be prevents and fights rather than consider a life style.
Obesity has been accepted in the American society as a norm. According to the U.S. office of the Surgeon General, in 1999, 6 in 10 American adults were classified as obese or overweight (McMurray, par. 5). In order for one to be classified as obese they’re body mass index (BMI) must be 30 or greater. The number of obese in America has continued to increase. It has been estimated by The World Health Organization that 300 million people will be obese by 2025 (Bailey 3). Since obesity comes with many health risks, many feel it should be treated as a disease.
About 2.8 billion adults every year die of obesity (Diet). Rachel Epstein wrote the book “Eating Habits and Disorders” which talks about obesity being a disease. Obesity is a condition with extra body fat which often starts to form in childhood (Epstein 25). While obesity for some adults can be life-threatening (Epstein 25). It can also form psychosocial problems (Epstein 25). Being obese causes a risk in diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, kidney trouble and more (Epstein 25). Being obese during pregnancy can cause many problems for the mom, and for the baby (Epstein 25). Any of these things could cause many problems either in the future, or in the present (Epstein 25). The worse the eating habits, the harder it is to cure (Epstein 25). The government needs to do more about obesity because obesity rates are rising, many kids are being victims of obesity and they don’t even know it, also Medical Care is taking a big part with the growing obesity rates.
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.
Today, 78.1 million American adults and 12.5 million children are obese. Obesity in America is a unstoppable epidemic. Since the 1960s, the number of obese adults have doubled and the number of obese children have tripled. Because of America’s obesity problems, Surgeon General David Satcher issued a report saying; "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight," said that obesity "have reached epidemic proportions" in America. Obesity in America has no doubt reached epidemic proportions. Since 2001, America has been the most obese country in the world. This essay discusses what obesity is and how it is affecting today’s America by answers the following questions:
One hundred and forty-seven billion dollars. This is the estimated cost of obesity in the United States (CDC, 2013). Today, obesity is on trend to being one of the biggest public health challenges since tobacco (Perry & Creamer, 2013). In 2010 33.7% of US adults and 17% of children aged 2-19 were considered obese (CDC, 2013). While obesity is rising at an exponential rate, there is disconnect between how society views and defines obesity and the actual medical costs and future health risks the disease holds (ACSM, 2010). This is where medical professionals need to bridge the gap of medical and social construction.
The obesity problem in America is out of control and something needs to be done. Some may say that this problem is caused by the lack of cheap healthy food and the wide variety of cheap fast food. “More than one-third (36.5%) of U.S. adults have obesity.” (Adult Obesity Facts). This means that 88.5 million adults are obese in America. Obesity increases the risk of serious health problems. This can include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cancer, sleep apnea, and a increase risk of having a stroke just to new a few. Those who body mass index surpass 40 have a life expectancy of six and a half years less than that of a person who has a normal body mass index (Los Angeles Times). Being obese will take time away from you and we should all strive to be in the best shape we can be. “From 1990 to 2015, the average percentage of obese adults increased from 11.1% (for 44 states and DC) to 29.3%. As of 2015, 37.9% of the US population was
We live in a world that is constantly bounding forward. In that push for innovation, working long hours often overshadows what it takes for a person to maintain a healthy lifestyle. How can we expect to advance as a society if we are not taking care of our own health first? In order to achieve successes beyond what we ever have before, it is necessary for every person to be operating at maximum capacity. Companies that implement nutritional plans and allow their employees to exercise during work hours see improved health of their workers, happier employees, and a spike in business productivity. There is always a presence of the drive to “be better” in business, and this can only be grasped if every individual takes the time to address the basic
With the health care costs reaching high number there is no wonder we have a large number of absenteeism. So many wait to the last possible painstaking work day to decide to see a doctor about their aliment, and all of that could be prevented. Preventing oneself to have to take time off from work is one way to keep costs low. There are so many areas that need to be addressed when it comes to what is going to slow us down as a company. According to estimates by Dr. Jaime Claudio(1991), a corporate wellness consultant for Health Plus, a provider of health-care insurance, a comprehensive eating awareness and weight- management program designed to improve long-term habits could generate an 80% reduction in the incidence of potential problems caused by obesity in the workplace. These problems include hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and diminished work efficiency. Obesity is not the only eating disorder that is a problem, there is bulimia and anorexia. Smoking, drinking, substance abuse, and stress are problems that are brought into the workplace and stop productivity. We have to be aware of issues that are there but are not usually thought of as an illness.
Obesity is a world wide epidemic that is killing slowly. An article in Time Magazine presented a report that said, “Every state in the U.S. has an obesity rate that’s over 20% - and many well over that,” (Sifferlin). These numbers have increased dramatically since 1990. In Colorado the adult obesity rate was
Companies have started to focus more on the physical appearance of their employees. Companies in Colorado have started to offer group discounts, free club newsletters, wellness and nutrition courses, and also office fitness classes. A general manager at a Colorado athletic club advised that this company involvement has been good for business. In an article by Lisa Marshall, she quotes the manager saying that “We try to be a resource, to come along side them and help them in an area where they may not have the expertise.”(vol. 35 p51) An estimated 40% to 50% of health club members take part in the club through some employer suggestion. Marshall also states that “health care costs spur companies to invest in preventive programs, and lifestyle guidance.” With more companies taking part in wellness in the workplace it has been determined that money will be saved on preventing illnesses. Some companies help employees with the stress of trying to stay healthy. They do things like having a nutrionist come by for free one-on-one consultati...
An employee relation refers to the efforts of the employer to manage relationships with the employees. Organisations with successful employee relations provide fair and consistent treatment of all employees encouraging loyalty and commitment to the organisation. Programs within employee relations focus on pay benefits, work-life balance, and safe working conditions. Healthy employer relations result in preventing and resolving workplace conflicts. Typically, employee relations are a deliberate action by Human Resource Managers to ensure the most effective use of people to accomplish the company 's overall goal. An effective employee relations strategy is to adopt the employee 's as stakeholders within the business. Stakeholders are people who are committed, financially or otherwise, to a company and are affected by its success or failure. This gives the employees themselves more value