This article explores factors associated with employee use of available supports for improving nutrition and activity behaviors. A cross-sectional telephone survey assessed presence and use of available program, facility, and policy supports. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between job characteristics (e.g., supervising others) and use of available supports, adjusting for demographic characteristics. After adjustment, most supports were associated with at least one job-related factor. Participants supervising others were more likely to utilize eight supports, including personal services for fitness, indoor exercise and shower facilities, and flextime for physical activity. The programs and facilities associated with the most factors were health fairs (e.g., increased likelihood with increased hours worked per week) and indoor exercise and shower facilities (e.g., increased likelihood with increased flexibility at work), respectively. Policies were associated with fewer factors. As use of many programs and facilities differed based on job-related factors, employers might target supports based on job-related factors.
AndersonL. M.QuinnT. A.GlanzK.RamirezG.KahwatiL. C.JohnsonD. B.. . . Task Force on Community Preventive Services. (2009). The effectiveness of worksite nutrition and physical activity interventions for controlling employee overweight and obesity: A systematic review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37, 340-357. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2009.07.003
2.
BaickerK.CutlerD.SongZ. (2010). Workplace wellness programs can generate savings. Health Affairs, 29, 304-311. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0626
3.
BaxterS.SandersonK.VennA. J.BlizzardC. L.PalmerA. J. (2014). The relationship between return on investment and quality of study methodology in workplace health promotion programs. American Journal of Health Promotion, 28, 347-363. doi:10.4278/ajhp.130731-LIT-395
4.
BienerL.GlanzK.McLerranD.SorensenG.ThompsonB.Basen-EngquisK.. . . VarnesJ. (1999). Impact of the Working Well Trial on the worksite smoking and nutrition environment. Health Education Behavior, 26, 478-494.
5.
BrayG. A. (1987). Overweight is risking fate. Definition, classification, prevalence, and risks. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 499, 14-28.
6.
BrightD. R.TerrellS. L.RushM. J.KroustosK. R.StockertA. L.SwansonS. C.DiPietroN. A. (2012). Employee attitudes toward participation in a work site-based health and wellness clinic. Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 25, 530-536. doi:10.1177/0897190012442719
7.
CalleE. E.RodriquezC.Walker-ThurmondK.ThunM. J. (2003). Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults. New England Journal of Medicine, 348, 1625-1638.
8.
CavuotoL. A.NussbaumM. A. (2014). The influences of obesity and age on functional performance during intermittent upper extremity tasks. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 11, 583-590. doi:10.1080/15459624.2014.887848
9.
CrumpC. E.ShegogR.GottliebN. H.GrunbaumJ. A. (2001). Comparison of participation in federal worksite and community health promotion programs. American Journal of Health Promotion, 15, 232-236.
10.
FinkelsteinE.FiebelkornI. C.WangG. (2005). The costs of obesity among full-time employees. American Journal of Health Promotion, 20, 45-51.
11.
FlegalK. M.KitB. K.OrpanaH.GraubardB. I. (2013). Association of all-cause mortality with overweight and obesity using standard body mass index categories: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 309, 71-82. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.113905
12.
GroeneveldI. F.ProperK. I.van der BeekA. J.HildebrandtV. H.van MechelenW. (2009). Factors associated with non-participation and drop-out in a lifestyle intervention for workers with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 6, 80.
13.
HeinenL. (2005). Business drivers of health risk reduction: Today’s cost, tomorrow’s trend. Health & Productivity Management, 2, 6-8.
14.
HillJ. O.WyattH. R.ReedG. W.PetersJ. C. (2003). Obesity and the environment: Where do we go from here?Science, 299, 853-855.
15.
HoehnerC. M.BuddE. L.MarxC. M.DodsonE. A.BrownsonR. C. (2013). Development and reliability testing of the Worksite and Energy Balance Survey. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 19(3, Suppl. 1), S105-S113. doi:10.1097/PHH.0b013e3182849f21
16.
KrugerJ.YoreM. M.BauerD. R.KohlH. W. (2007). Selected barriers and incentives for worksite health promotion services and policies. American Journal of Health Promotion, 21, 439-447.
17.
LakerveldJ.IjzelenbergW.van TulderM. W.HellemansI. M.RauwerdaJ. A.van RossumA. C.SeidellJ. C. (2008). Motives for (not) participating in a lifestyle intervention trial. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8, 17. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-8-17
18.
LassenA.Bruselius-JensenM.SommerH. M.ThorsenA. V.TrolleE. (2007). Factors influencing participation rates and employees’ attitudes toward promoting healthy eating at blue-collar worksites. Health Education Research, 22, 727-736. doi:10.1093/her/cyl153
19.
LemonS. C.ZapkaJ.LiW.EstabrookB.MagnerR.RosalM. C. (2009). Perceptions of worksite support and employee obesity, activity and diet. American Journal of Health Behavior, 33, 299-308.
20.
LinnanL. A.FavaJ. L.ThompsonB.EmmonsK.Basen-EngquistK.ProbartC.. . . HeimendingerJ. (1999). Measuring participatory strategies: Instrument development for worksite populations. Health Education Research, 14, 371-386.
21.
MattkeS.HangshengL.CaloyerasJ. P.HuangC. Y.Van BusumK. R.KhodyakovD.ShierV. (2013). Workplace Wellness Programs Study: Final report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.
22.
MiddlestadtS. E.SheatsJ. L.GeshnizjaniA.SullivanM. R.ArvinC. S. (2011). Factors associated with participation in work-site wellness programs: Implications for increasing willingness among rural service employees. Health Education & Behavior, 38, 502-509. doi:10.1177/1090198110384469
23.
MorganP. J.CollinsC. E.PlotnikoffR. C.CookA. T.BerthonB.MitchellS.CallisterR. (2012). The impact of a workplace-based weight loss program on work-related outcomes in overweight male shift workers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 54, 122-127. doi:10.1097/JOM.0b013e31824329ab
24.
MorrisW. R.ConradK. M.MarcantonioR. J.MarksB. A.RibislK. M. (1999). Do blue-collar workers perceive the worksite health climate differently than white-collar workers?American Journal of Health Promotion, 13, 319-324.
25.
MustA.SpadanoJ.CoakleyE. H.FieldA. E.ColditzG.DietzW. H. (1999). The disease burden associated with overweight and obesity. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282, 1523-1529.
26.
O’DonnellM. P. (2013). Does workplace health promotion work or not? Are you sure you really want to know the truth?American Journal of Health Promotion, 28, iv-vi. doi:10.4278/ajhp.28.1.iv
27.
O’DonnellM. P. (2014). What is the ROI of workplace health promotion? The answer just got simpler by making the question more complicated. American Journal of Health Promotion, 28, iv-iv. doi:10.4278/ajhp.28.6.iv
28.
OsillaK. C.Van BusumK.SchnyerC.LarkinJ. W.EibnerC.MattkeS. (2012). Systematic review of the impact of worksite wellness programs. American Journal of Managed Care, 18, e68-e81.
29.
PersonA. L.ColbyS. E.BulovaJ. A.EubanksJ. W. (2010). Barriers to participation in a worksite wellness program. Nutrition Research and Practice, 4, 149-154. doi:10.4162/nrp.2010.4.2.149
30.
PrattC. A.LemonS. C.FernandezI. D.GoetzelR.BeresfordS. A.FrenchS. A.. . . WebberL. S. (2007). Design characteristics of worksite environmental interventions for obesity prevention. Obesity (Silver Spring), 15, 2171-2180. doi:10.1038/oby.2007.258
31.
Prospective Studies Collaboration. (2009). Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900 000 adults: Collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies. The Lancet, 373, 1083-1096.
32.
RobroekS. J.van LentheF. J.van EmpelenP.BurdorfA. (2009). Determinants of participation in worksite health promotion programmes: A systematic review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 6, 26. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-6-26
33.
RongenA.RobroekS. J.van GinkelW.LindeboomD.AltinkB.BurdorfA. (2014). Barriers and facilitators for participation in health promotion programs among employees: A six-month follow-up study. BMC Public Health, 14, 573. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-573
34.
SalinardiT. C.BatraP.RobertsS. B.UrbanL. E.RobinsonL. M.PittasA. G.. . . DasS. K. (2013). Lifestyle intervention reduces body weight and improves cardiometabolic risk factors in worksites. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 97, 667-676. doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.046995ajcn.112.046995
35.
SallisJ. F.CerveroR.AscherW.HendersonK.KraftM.KerrJ. (2006). An ecological approach to creating active living communities. Annual Review of Public Health, 27, 297-322.
36.
SallisJ. F.OwenN. (2015). Ecological models of health behavior. In GlanzK.RimerB. K.ViswanathK. (Eds.), Health behavior: Theory, research, and practice (5th ed., pp. 43-64). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
37.
SallisJ. F.OwenN.FisherE. B. (2008). Ecological models of health behavior. In GlanzK.RimerB. K.ViswanathK. (Eds.), Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (4th ed., pp. 465-486). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley.
38.
SchmitzM. K.JefferyR. W. (2000). Public health interventions for the prevention and treatment of obesity. Medical Clinics of North America, 84, 491-512.
39.
SorensenG.LinnanL.HuntM. K. (2004). Worksite-based research and initiatives to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. Preventive Medicine, 39(Suppl. 2), S94-100. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2003.12.020
40.
StokolsD. (1992). Establishing and maintaining healthy environments: Toward a social ecology of health promotion. American Psychologist, 47, 6-22.
41.
StokolsD.GrzywaczJ. G.McMahanS.PhillipsK. (2003). Increasing the health promotive capacity of human environments. American Journal of Health Promotion, 18, 4-13.
VerweijL. M.CoffengJ.van MechelenW.ProperK. I. (2010). Meta-analyses of workplace physical activity and dietary behaviour interventions on weight outcomes. Obesity Reviews, 12, 406-429. doi:10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00765.x
44.
WandelM.RoosG. (2005). Work, food and physical activity. A qualitative study of coping strategies among men in three occupations. Appetite, 44, 93-102. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2004.08.002
45.
WeinerB. J.LewisM. A.LinnanL. A. (2009). Using organization theory to understand the determinants of effective implementation of worksite health promotion programs. Health Education Research, 24, 292-305. doi:10.1093/her/cyn019
46.
WilsonM. G.DejoyD. M.VandenbergR. J.RichardsonH. A.McGrathA. L. (2004). Work characteristics and employee health and well-being: Test of a model of healthy work organization. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 565-588.
47.
YenL.SchultzA.SchnueringerE.EdingtonD. W. (2006). Financial costs due to excess health risks among active employees of a utility company. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 48, 896-905.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
