Lady LUX

May is a time to bust a move in the workplace. An initiative held each May by the nonprofit National Association for Health & Fitness and ACTIVE Life, Global Employee Health & Fitness Month promotes workplace wellness through its wide array of individual and group worksite health activities. Employers and employees alike are challenged to create Healthy Moments, form Healthy Groups and create a culminating Project, all with the goal of promoting a healthy lifestyle. These shared moments, groups and projects invite a healthier lifestyle through simple actions such as cooking a healthy meal, forming a group to walk during lunch breaks or biking to work.

“The amazing strategic partnership between NAHF and ACTIVE Life resulting in the new and improved Employee Health & Fitness Month is truly historic in the arena of workplace wellness. Business and industry can encourage positive behavior change in the supportive context of workplace policies and culture and provide support that assists today's workforce with their daily struggles. Through EHFM we will achieve the optimum result of a more physically active and healthier population, one healthy moment and one healthy group at a time,” Diane Hart, president of NAHF, said.

Workers benefit when their employers offer a structured program, including physical activity, nutrition and wellness. In our day of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, Americans are at risk of a number of preventable diseases and disorders – diseases that could have been avoided by practicing a healthy way of living. Workplace wellness programs can keep health care costs down, enhance productivity, prevent illnesses, lower stress and decrease employee absenteeism through fun, interactive activities.

“Worksite health and wellness programs improve the overall health and productivity of a workforce. GEHFM participants will quickly learn that when worksites are healthy, entire communities can benefit. It is time for healthy to become the norm in our world,” GEHFM said.

Healthy moments are an individual’s choice to eat healthy or engage in physical activity; for example, signing up for an exercise class, choosing to eat in rather than out, or making an appointment for a physical exam. Healthy Groups are group activities that attempt to last beyond GEHFM: forming a lunchtime exercise group, creating a healthy meal club to cook for one another and share healthy recipes, and starting intramural athletic softball or soccer teams. Employers and employees are challenged to start Healthy Moments and Groups the whole month, culminating with a final project such as a company 3K race or new community garden.

“There have been significant strides in documenting the evidence of the value of investing in employee health as a powerful strategic component of an organization's human capital management. Progressive employers understand that an investment in their employee's health is essential to managing health costs, improving organizational productivity and employee morale,” GEHFM said.

Employees’ health and wellbeing is intrinsically tied to their performance at work, making employee wellness a crucial aspect in a company’s success. As our workforce ages and chronic health conditions continue to rise, health care more and more hurts the bottom line. Just when we need to max our concentration on health, employers are cutting back employee health benefits. “We need to focus on health, not just illness,” Hart said. “Health is about having your mind and body do your best in any given situation, having a healthy meal plan and managing your stress.”

“As a longtime advocate of healthy, active living, I am excited to be leading the way for the Employee Health & Fitness Month. We hope this event plants a seed that the small choices you make each day can have a big impact on long-term health. Decide to move, eat right and live well today and encourage others around you at work to do the same,” Brenda Loube, EHFM chair and NAHF board member, said.

This year, for the first time, the effort has transitioned from being a day into an entire month-long celebration of health designed to spawn habitual actions versus the easily forgotten hype of one day. This extra length allows for the time positive behavior changes need to develop into healthy lifestyle habits.

Since its founding in 1989 as Employee Health and Fitness Day, the effort has grown into an international health observance with tens of thousands of employers participating in programs around the globe. To participate, visit www.healthandfitnessmonth.org and register. Workers can register individually and/or the entire workplace can sign up. Throughout the month, participants log on to the GEHFM website to track, share and promote their healthy events and their progress.

“Joining the GEHFM movement this May (and every May) is the best place to start or re-dedicate your organization’s efforts to the imperative cause of health becoming the norm in our world … The US Chamber of Commerce states, ‘It is disturbing that few health promotion programs are available to employers/employees.’ GEHFM stands ready to fill this void,” Hart said.

For more information, including plenty of ideas for moments, groups and projects, visit www.HealthandFitnessMonth.org.

Tagged in: wellness, fitness, health, employee health, global employee health & fitness month, employee health & fitness month,

Lifestyle / Wellness