Employee Health Promotion

A diet education program ought to include a nutritional needs assessment, education counseling, and referral as crucial. Educational sessions and materials ought to include the following information:

• The relationship of diet and chronic diseases
• Improving eating patterns
• Relationship of diet and proper weight maintenance
• Exercise
• Stress
• Blood Pressure
• Cholesterol
• Diabetes and other chronic diseases.
• Nutritionally accurate information regarding the relationship of health to diet, including cholesterol, fats, fiber, alcohol, carbohydrates, salt, sugar, and vitamin/mineral supplementation.

Methods for identifying healthier foods and incorporating low-calorie, high nutrient foods into eating habits. Guidelines for bettering eating habits ought to be based on or consistent with national recommendations such as The Food Guide Pyramid. Instructor ought to be a registered dietitian, registered nurse, or have a baccalaureate degree or higher in health education with training in diet. If an allied health professional instructs the program, a consultation and review of the program design by a registered dietitian is recommended.

Participatory fitness programs ought to include education on benefits of regular exercise and risks of a sedentary lifestyle, its influence on cardiovascular health and diseases, its relationship with weight management and stress management, and aerobic exercise options. Discussion and practice of safe principles of exercise – warm up, cool down, frequency, intensity, duration, flexibility and strength components. The program follows guidelines by the American College Of Sports Medicine. Safety precautions ought to include the following:

• Informed consent prior to beginning exercise with clear and complete written and verbal guidelines of possible risk, purpose of exercise, exercise format to be followed, opportunity for questions, and a signed informed consent with date.
• A screening/evaluation of participants to determine if healthcare evaluation is crucial for exercise such as the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q, see forms).
• Measurements of Blood Pressure and resting heart rate are useful assessment information to determine exercise readiness.
• Participants who fail screening are medically referred and ought to get a written clearance from their physician to exercise.
• The basic content of an aerobic physical activity program ought to include:

Warm up 5 – 10 minutes Aerobic exercise 20 – 40 minutes Cool down 5 – 10 minutes Exercise instructors ought to have education and training in exercise physiology, physical education, physical therapy or comparable discipline, or possess a current certification by a nationally recognized sports medicine or exercise association, and be CPR certified.