At my job here at Group Health Cooperative, I (along with the other Health Promotion Coaches) help companies develop worksite health promotion programs. It’s rewarding work! Because every organization is different, we have an opportunity to help them create a program that fits their needs. When it comes to health promotion, a one-size-fits-all program is definitely not the direction to go!
What we’ve found is that an important key to any health promotion program is to continually look for new ways to encourage healthier lifestyles. In fact, here’s an idea that you can implement or suggest in your workplace to help create and support a healthy culture.
Highsmith, a Wisconsin-based company, has started a new initiative as a part of their worksite health promotion program. In a Microsoft Small Business Center article, the company discussed how they honed in on a common healthy eating pitfall: the vending machines.
The cost of items in the vending machines at Highsmith was adjusted to encourage people to eat healthier. To accomplish this, they also lowered the price of the healthier, low-fat items. Inversely, junk-food items stayed in the machines, but raised the cost of these foods.
Here are some questions to consider when starting this type of program:
• Who manages your vending machines?
• What are the current sales?
• Does the supplier have a program in place already similar?
• What is your current company culture, and how will your employees react?
Here at Group Health Cooperative, we have a similar program in place called Wellness Warriors. Working with our vending company, we offer healthier vending machine options to employees at a lower price and less healthy options were a bit more expensive.
For instance, Cheetos may be one of the most popular items in the vending machine, but they are also one of the least healthy options. The cost of Cheetos can be raised to $1.00. Healthier options with either fewer calories and less fat can be set to a lower price. Baked Lays, for example, could be $.60.
By increasing our awareness of the choices we make for snacks, we can strive to improve our daily diets and our overall health!
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