September 2004

Companies do not encourage exercise, healthy eating

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions but, surprisingly, American companies are not encouraging their employees to exercise and eat healthy foods.

According to a poll commissioned by The Marlin Company and conducted by Harris Interactive®, 64 percent of adult workers say that their companies are either not active at all or not very active in offering information about exercise and healthy eating to prevent obesity among employees.

Twenty-one percent (21 percent) say their companies are only somewhat active and 15 percent say their companies are very active.

The survey results come in the wake of a report earlier this year from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that poor diets and lack of physical activity are blamed for 400,000 preventable deaths a year, second now only to those related to tobacco.

"We’ve all seen people routinely devour high-fat, high-calorie, artery-choking sludge at lunchtime," said Marlin Company President Frank Kenna III. "And we know that millions of people get much of their exercise just from lifting their TV remote control. Yet the facts have been highly publicized: healthy diets and exercise prevent obesity, disease and deaths. So why aren’t companies doing more to encourage healthy lifestyles, especially as medical insurance premiums continue to skyrocket? Why are so many people losing in what should be a win-win situation?"

The Harris Interactive survey also reported that 83 percent of those who have vending machines in their workplace say they mostly contain snacks such as potato chips, cookies and candy bars.

Yet 80 percent of workers say they’d favor adding nutritional information, such as calories and fat content, to menus at restaurants and workplace cafeterias to help consumers make informed choices. And 66 percent say they believe that healthier eating and exercise habits among employees in their workplaces would lower the cost of medical insurance.

Source: The Marlin Group, www.themarlincompany.com

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