Employee Health Promotion

Employee Health Promotion Programs that support employees and the environment that they work in have been shown to be a good ROI. Employee Health Promotion Programs may be extensive and sometimes costly. However, there are ways for small employers to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Nutrition Programs

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

1. Provide healthy eating reminders and prompts to employees via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).

2. Provide appealing, low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.

3. Provide cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for employees’ families.

4. Ensure onsite cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

5. Provide healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.

6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.

7. Provide healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).

8. Provide taste-testing opportunities at the workplace.

9. Provide employee-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.

10. Provide local fruits and vegetables at the workplace (i.e. workplace farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).

11. Use competitive pricing (price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at higher prices).

12. Provide protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.

13. Make kitchen equipment available to employees.

14. Provide an opportunity for onsite gardening if possible.

Sweetened Beverage Consumption

1. Make water available throughout the day.

2. Provide appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.

3. Modify worksite vending contracts to raise the number of healthy options.

4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.

5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.

Portion Control

1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.

2. Provide food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help employees evaluate portion size.

3. Provide appropriate portion sizes at meetings, workplace events and in the cafeteria.

Breastfeeding

1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed environment, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.

2. Provide flexible scheduling and/or onsite or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.

3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.

4. Educate personnel on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.

Television & Food Advertising

1. Place TVss in non-eating areas of the workplace.

2. Limit food advertising in the cafeteria (i.e. print and other media).