Thursday, October 8, 2009Marilyn Batan, MPH

Source: CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

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1999

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. AdultsBRFSS, 1990, 1999, 2008

(*BMI 30, or about 30 lbs. overweight for 5’4” person)

2008

1990

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

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Annual Costs of Obesity

$147 billion in medical costs (2008)

$1,429 +healthcare costs/person (2008) (42% higher than normal weight person)

39 million work days lost (2003)

-Finkelstein E. Annual medical spending attributable to obesity: payer- and service-specific estimates. Health Affairs 2009 Jul 29. 2. -Thorpe, KE, Florence CS, Howard DH, Joski P. The impact of obesity on rising medical spending. Health Affairs 2004; W4:480-6.

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CommunityCommunity

MedicalMedicalSchoolsSchools

WorksitesWorksites

CDC Settings

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Do Worksite Programs Help

Employees Lose Weight?The U.S. Task Force on Community Preventive Services recommends:

Worksite programs intended to improve diet and/or physical activity for reducing weight among employees. Programs include various approaches to support behavioral change:

- policy & environmental

- informational & educational activities

- behavioral and social strategies

Systematic review will be published in October issue of AJPM.

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How much savings?

• Results:– Average reduction in health care costs

– 26%– Average reduction in absenteeism –

27%– Average ROI – $5.81-to-$1 savings-to-

cost ratio

Chapman, L. (2005). Meta-Evaluation of Worksite Wellness Promotion economic return studies: 2005 Update. The Art of Health Promotion. July/August, 2005

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More than Money

• Improves worker satisfaction and morale

• Demonstrates concern for your employees

• Provides social opportunities and source of support within the workplace

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Barriers to Implementation

• Cost• Lack of

understanding • Lack of knowledge • Lack of staff or

capacity • Lack of resources

and tools

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Community Guide Recommendation

Promising Practices

(Literature)Translate Findings

Expert Panels

Promising Practices

(Field)

Focus Groups CDC’s Healthier Worksite Initiative

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CDC’s LEAN LEAN Works!Works!

• An interactive websiteEstimate workforce obesity costs

Estimate cost:benefit of user-defined interventions

Explore examples from other programs

Download planning guides

Slides to help you make the business case

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Calculator Purpose

• Estimates workforce obesity costs

• Estimates cost:benefit of user-defined interventions

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Inputs

Obesity Cost Calculator Worksheet

– At a minimum:

•Type of industry (from a list of 12 industry categories)

•State or territory that best represents the location of the company

•Number of employees in the company

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Inputs

Optional information:

# of employees overall

# of overweight or obese employees

Average wage information for employees

% of employees receiving benefits

% of total compensation going to benefits

By gender,

age or both

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Datasets

• Data for the calculator - 6 nationally representative datasets.

– Overweight and Obesity Prevalence •National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) •Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance

System (BRFSS)•National Health and Nutrition Examination

Survey (NHANES)

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Datasets• Hourly Wages and Benefits

– Current Population Survey (CPS) • Medical Expenditures

– Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) • Work Loss

– National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

• NOTE: All costs are reported in 2007 dollars using the Medical Care Inflation Index provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  All results generated from the tool are estimates. Actual results may be larger or smaller than those reported.

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Case Scenario

• You are a worksite coordinator of a 10,000 person healthcare company in Virginia with a small obesity prevention program that gets only minimal participation and attention. You want to build your company’s program, but don’t know where to begin. You’re looking for ways to get senior leadership more engaged in the program.

• You do not have information on employees’ BMI, average wages, or proportion receiving benefits.

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Step 2: Employees’ BMI

• Do you want obesity prevalence estimation to be based on averages across your company’s industry or state?

Industry State

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Step 2: Employees’ BMI

• Select the most detailed category for which you have an estimate of the number of employees in your company.

Total By gender only By age group only (18-44, 45+) By gender and age group (18-44, 45+)

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You may want to plug the numbers into a business case power point for senior management, but you don’t have one available.

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Healthy food policy: meetings, vending, cafeterias

Flextime for physical activity

Coverage for obesity clinical screening, counseling, and treatment

Enhancing access to physical activity: building walking trails, gyms, changing rooms/showers, stairwell enhancement

Multifaceted physical activity and nutrition employee education programs

Individually adapted physical activity programs

Nutrition counseling

Weight Management programs

Team Competitions

Incentives

Interventions

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Weight Management Program, cost-effective?

You would like to implement a weight management program for your employees. You’re unsure if such a program will be cost-effective.

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Calculator will NOT…

• Tell you what intervention to Tell you what intervention to implementimplement

• Provide relevant intervention detailsProvide relevant intervention details

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Motivation, Behavior Modification, Program Development:Additional Resources

• 8 Tips for Exercise Motivation (Article from WebMD)http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/hate-exercise

• What you need to know about using incentives to change employee behavior (Article by president of Integrated Benefits Institute) http://eba.benefitnews.com/news/you-need-know-using-incentives-change-2668881-1.html

 

• Motivating Employees to Make Lifestyle Changes (PowerPoint from American Institute for Preventive Medicine)www.ehcca.com/presentations/cdhcsummit3/1_04.ppt

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Additional Resources

• CDC’s Healthier Worksite Initiative http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/hwi/index.htm

• Weight of the Nation: CDC’s Inaugural Conference on Obesity Prevention and Controlhttp://www.adph.org/ALPHTN/index.asp?id=3775

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Questions?

www.cdc.gov/leanworks

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Thank You!

Contact InformationMarilyn Batan, MPHDivision of Nutrition, Physical Activity and

ObesityCenters for Disease

Control and Prevention(770) 488-5287FPL8@cdc.gov