Risky Business: Let Us Chew the Fat!
Risky Business: Let Us Chew the Fat!
It seems that all my life I’ve struggled with my weight. As a child my mother had to take me to another city to buy my clothes at a “chubby girls” store! Thank goodness that as I approached my teens the weight seemed to melt off, but now I realize it was just that I grew taller and was so active. About two months ago, I got serious about losing weight. My first step was to calculate my body mass index (BMI). Oh, what a shock to see the word obese pop up on the computer screen. That did it for me and as of today, I’m 12 pounds lighter and down into the overweight category with a BMI of 28.2 instead of 30. Just 21 more pounds to go until I reach my goal of less than a BMI of 25. So, if you see me at any of the tradeshows, please don’t tempt me with high sugar or fatty foods.
BMI is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems. You can use the following Web site link to calculate your BMI: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_cal...
I’m just one of millions in the U.S. with a weight problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that as a nation, 66 percent of all adults at least 20 years old are considered overweight or obese. To view an animated map of the United States obesity prevalence from 1985 through 2008 go to www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.
So, what does this have to do with safety in dental laboratories? This month the National Safety Council’s monthly publication Safety+Health shows on the front cover one of their topics for the month: America’s obesity epidemic and its effect on PPE and workplace safety. That really sparked my interest. The author of that article states: “One out of every five Americans in every state except Colorado has been classified as obese. As workers become heavier, safety equipment manufacturers are working to accommodate their needs. However, is that a solution or simply a bandage for a far greater problem?”
That article addresses how manufacturers are trying to accommodate larger body frames. The fit of personal protective equipment (PPE) can be compromised on larger workers. Gloves, masks, respirators, eye protection and safety clothing may not work properly and even worse the employee may not wear it because it doesn’t fit. Either of these issues is a concern to safety experts and certainly should be a concern to employers.
A 2007 study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore showed that having a body mass index in the overweight or obese range was associated with an increased risk of traumatic workplace injury. Over a three-year period, 7,690 hourly workers at various aluminum manufacturing plants across the country were observed. It was found that of the 29 percent of workers who were injured at least once, 85 percent were classified as overweight or obese.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) health problems that often accompany obesity include:
- Coronary heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Various cancers
- Hypertension
- Stroke
- Liver and gallbladder disease
- Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
Some of the effects that overweight and/or obese workers can have on operations at a dental laboratory can include:
- Higher health insurance costs
- Increased absenteeism
- Increased workload on other workers
- Increased worker’s compensation premiums.
Safety and health professionals are being challenged by their industry to become more proactive on this issue. Workers need to be encouraged to change their unhealthy behaviors. Remember that top management must be committed to this type of program and must participate in healthy living events so they are setting the right example.
Below are some suggestions for activities you may want to consider to help employees lose weight and keep it off:
- Encourage healthy eating by providing healthy snacks in your break room or offer nutritious options.
- Bring in fruit and vegetable trays periodically.
- Have your safety committee make healthy living a priority and if you don’t have a safety committee then set up a healthy living committee to promote a healthy lifestyle at work.
- Encourage workers to be more physically active during the work day.
- Install fitness equipment if you have space.
- Encourage workers to use the stairs instead of the elevator – great Web site below provides suggestions on making the stairwells more interesting.
- Place health and fitness information in common areas.
- Set up a friendly competition for lunch-time walkers. Keep track of number of days walked, the distance covered, and pounds lost. Award prizes for winners in each category. Prizes should encourage healthy living, i.e. a massage, spa day, tickets to sporting events, gift certificate to sporting goods store, dinner for two at restaurant that serves healthy food.
- Take before and after photos and post them – with participants’ permission of course.
- Invite in physicians, nutritionists, fitness experts and motivational speakers to address employees and help them with their weight-loss challenges.
- Form a weight-loss group of employees who meet to discuss their efforts.
- Plan surprise fitness activities such as taking a nature walk followed by a healthy picnic lunch.
Providing motivation, rewards, and appropriate recognition to those workers who make the healthy change will not only make your lab a happier workplace, but it will add profit to your bottom line. Some of my clients have taken this proactive stance and are reaping the benefits so don’t wait - come on and get on board! I’d love to hear about your positive results.
Some resources for you to get started:
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/stateprograms/fundedstates.html
CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) currently funds 25 states to address the problems of obesity and other chronic diseases through statewide efforts coordinated with multiple partners. The program's primary focus is to create policy and environmental changes that will improve the health of places where Americans live, work, learn, and play through a variety of nutrition and physical activity strategies. The state program will develop strategies to leverage resources and coordinate statewide efforts to address all of the following DNPAO principal target areas:
- Increase physical activity.
- Increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables.
- Decrease the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages.
- Increase breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity.
- Reduce the consumption of high energy dense foods.
- Decrease television viewing.
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/hwi/toolkits/stairwell/
Article by CDC on StairWell to Better Health provides suggestions for making stairwells more inviting so workers will use them instead of elevators.
http://www.cdc.gov/leanworks/
Lean Works! Is a free Web-based resource that offers interactive tools and evidence-based resources to design effective worksite obesity prevention and control programs, including an obesity cost calculator to estimate how much obesity is costing your company and how much savings your company could reap with different workplace interventions.
