A new study suggests that a healthy lifestyle intervention programme in the workplace can lessen the risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, reports Khaleej Times.
Employers and business owners now have the chance to see their staff in shape by doing lifestyle exercises at work. The programme, developed by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, was performed and administed at the workplace and comprised of 22 sessions in a year. It aimed to help people in the office to achieve better health.
According to M. Kaye Kramer, lead author, "Health care expenditures associated with diabetes are spiralling, causing widespread concern, particularly for employers who worry about their employees' health and productivity."
Sickness is actually one of the main causes of absence in the United Kingdom, with stress overtaking cancer as the number one reason, CNBC reports. With health programmes introduced in the office, there is a bigger possibility that the rate will decrease.
During the duration of the study, a number of participants lost a five percent average of body weight, shrinking their waistlines by approximately two inches. Physical activity also increased over the one-year course. Ninety-six percent of the participants found the programme beneficial and 99 percent of them said that they will tell their co-workers about it.
Andrea Kriska, principal investigator from the department of epidemiology at Public Health, says the effort healthy lifestyle programme was indeed effective in minimizing the risk factors for health problems in participating employees.
The study was published at the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.