Seventy-four percent of workers in the U.S. say cookies, cake and/or candy are served as company meetings and other functions. Sixty-three percent say vending machines in their offices are mostly loaded with salty and sweet snacks.
The nation's workers have a weight problem and, for many years, employers have done very little to change it. In fact, as the statistics attest, some may have been doing the opposite.
That, it seems, is changing in some quarters.
Businesses that used to put high calorie foods out for workers are now replacing those items with fresh fruit and salad. Company cafeterias are also making it easier for workers to make the right nutritional choices by a) putting more better-for-you items on the menu and b) charging higher prices for those items that are seen as less than optimally nutritious.
The associate medical director at Pitney Bowes headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Dr. Brent Pawlecki, told the Chicago Tribune that sandwiches in the company's cafeteria come with carrots and celery.
"They can still get chips if they ask, but carrots and celery is the default choice," he said. "We try to make it easy to do the right thing."
Cafeteria pricing also reflects the health position Pitney Bowes is taking. A veggie wrap, for example, costs $2.49 compared to pizza that rings up at $4.48.
"What I'd like to see is that my salmon would be much less expensive than my cheeseburger and fries," said Dr. Pawlecki.
LuAnn Heinen, director of the Institute on the Costs and Health Effects of Obesity, said Pitney Bowes is not alone in making this business decision.
"This is coming from the top, and there's an endorsement as a business objective. It's not a 'nice to have' but a 'need to have,' " she said.
Pitney Bowes, for example, estimates it saves $3 in local medical costs and more productive employees for every dollar it spends on worker wellness programs.
The need employers feel for workers to take care of themselves has even led some to develop bonus systems for employees who do just that.
Dell Computer's "Well at Dell" program allows workers to earn money towards "health rewards accounts" for completing wellness programs. The money earned by workers can be used to reimburse them for co-pays on visits to the doctors and prescription drugs.
Discussion Questions: How effective have corporate wellness programs been? Are there specific programs that you think are worth modeling by other companies?