A Free Resource for Worksites from CDC

New and FREE OF CHARGE, CDC’s Web site is designed to help small and mid-sized companies assess, design and implement EFFECTIVE employee obesity prevention and control programs.

What Does Obesity Cost Your Organization?

In 2005-2006, 34% of U.S. adults and 16% of U.S. children and adolescents were obese. In 2000, obesity-related health care costs totaled an estimated $117 billion.  Between 1987 and 2001, diseases associated with obesity accounted for 27% of the increases in medical costs. Medical expenditures for obese workers, depending on severity of obesity and sex, are between 29%–117% greater than expenditures for workers with normal weight.

CDC’s LEAN Works! (Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition):

Do you want to know how much obesity costs your organization? What your return on investment from implementing your own obesity intervention might be?

If so, visit CDC’s LEAN Works! This is a free web-based resource that offers evidence-based research to help you plan, build, promote, and assess an obesity prevention and control program for your worksite.  The site contains detailed information to guide you through any of these stages.  It includes toolkits and other resources, as well as an interactive obesity cost calculator to determine how much obesity costs your organization and how much you could save by establishing an obesity prevention control program at your worksite.

CDC’s LEAN Works! can help human resource managers and other employers, answer the following questions:

• Why should I create a program?
• Where should I begin?
• What program components and activities should I include?
• How do I maintain interest and motivation?
• Is my program working?

Key Features of the Web site include:

• The Obesity Cost Calculator to estimate—
  • Total costs attributable to high BMI
  • Total annual medical costs attributable to high BMI
  • Total annual work loss costs attributable to high BMI
  • Average attributable cost per high BMI employee
  • Return on investment for obesity interventions
• Information and Resources to customize your program, including —
  • Business Case PowerPoint: An example presentation to pitch an obesity prevention program to decision-makers in your company
  • Health Risk Assessment: An example tool to collect baseline employee information related to nutrition and physical activity
  • Health Culture and Environmental Audit: An example tool to assess the physical features of your worksite  
  • Employee Interest Survey: An example tool to gauge interest in worksite nutrition and physical activity programs

Be the first to benefit! Get started with CDC’s LEAN Works! today!

www.cdc.gov/leanworks