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1993.04.14 :  Survey -- Worksite Health Promotion

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Contacts: Lisa Kanner (202) 205-9370
Deborah Girasek (202) 205-5968
April 14, 1993

       More employers are sponsoring activities to help employees
lose weight, stop smoking and stay fit, according to a national
survey released today by the U.S. Public Health Service.    
       Investigators found that 81 percent of worksites queried
offer at least one health promoting activity to their employees -
- a 25 percent increase since the first survey in 1985.     
       The results of the 1992 National Survey of Worksite Health
Promotion Activities were released at a meeting of the National
Coordinating Committee on Worksite Health Promotion in
Washington, D.C.  This coalition of national employer and
employee groups has been convened by federal public health
officials to address prevention efforts in the private sector.
       Programs on the rise include those targeting physical
fitness, nutrition and weight control, stress management, back
care, and blood pressure and cholesterol reduction.  In addition,
the percentage of worksites with formal policies that prohibit or
severely restrict smoking at the workplace more than doubled --
increasing from 27 to 59 percent.
       "The survey results reflect a commitment by business,
industry and labor to employee health, which is encouraging in
the face of financial constraints and pressures to reduce cost,"
said J. Michael McGinnis, M.D., deputy assistant secretary for
health in the Public Health Service, and chair of the NCCWHP. 
"We are especially encouraged to see the progress that has been
made toward reaching the Year 2000 health targets set for
Americans in the workplace."  (For background on the Nation's
Year 2000 health objectives, refer to the Healthy People 2000
fact sheet that accompanies this press release.)
       Improved employee health, improved employee morale and
reduced health insurance costs are the benefits cited most
frequently by respondents at worksites with health promotion
activities.  
       The survey showed that employers encourage participation
in worksite health promotion activities in several ways:  72
percent allow employees to use "company time" to participate in
health promotion activities; 12 percent adjust health insurance
premiums based on smoking status; 8 percent provide annual fixed
reimbursements for health promotion expenses; and several offer
subsidized discounts or reduced fees for participation in
community-based programs such as smoking cessation and exercise
classes.  
       Worksites with 750 or more employees, and companies that
are self-insured, are more likely to offer health promotion
activities. There was little or no variation reported in
different parts of the country.  

       These results are based on responses from 1,507 private
worksites that employed 50 or more individuals and spanned six
industry categories.  The data were collected by telephone in the
winter of 1992.  


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(Copies of a summary report of the results of this survey may be
obtained through the Government Printing Office at (202) 783-
3238.)