As part of its efforts related to health reform, the STOP Obesity Alliance began a dialogue looking into the impact of obesity at the state level. The George Washington University research team created the STOP Obesity Alliance “Obesity and the States” bulletin, a periodic report on topics of interest to state leaders having to manage issues related overweight, obesity and chronic disease in their state. Read the premier issue here.

The STOP Obesity Alliance hosted a webinar on Tuesday, December 6, in which experts discussed state legislative activities related to obesity and weight-related chronic disease that could signal broader trends in the future.  Topics included obesity surveillance and tracking efforts, food and beverage taxes, and efforts to restrict state employee benefits plan coverage. Click here to view the webinar.

Click here to send a letter to your legislator now!

Starting a new year gives us another chance to plan, look ahead and think optimistically about what the future holds for obesity in America. Reflecting on changes in 2011 and what’s in store for 2012, we see areas of great progress, but also areas where that progress is met with great challenges.

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Together we will be raising public awareness about the critical role employers can play in building supportive social communities in the workplace to create cultures of good health for their employees that help prevent chronic diseases, control rising healthcare costs and improve productivity.

Information and resources about workplace wellness, along with suggested ideas for celebrating National Employee Wellness Month, can be found at www.nationalemployeewellnessmonth.com. For more information on how your organization can become actively involved in this year’s National Employee Wellness Month or to pledge your company’s support contact Marian Hughes at mhughes@tieronepr.com.

To answer this question and others, the STOP Obesity Alliance and The George Washington University’s Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy are co-sponsoring a symposium at the National Association of Community Health Centers’ annual Policy & Issues Forum.  The symposium, being held Saturday, March 26, will bring together a team of experts and stakeholders to provide insight on the specific issues facing community health centers.  The symposium will begin with a panel discussion featuring Angela Glover Blackwell of PolicyLink, Dr. Amanda Cash of the Health Resources and Services Administration, and Jay Breines of Holyoke Health Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Following the panel will be “A Call for Conversation,” an afternoon roundtable workshop to further discuss community health centers’ readiness to address obesity and related issues among their current patients and those who will soon enter the health care system under health reform.  Several community health center and government representatives will lead the roundtable discussion.

This symposium builds on the work that the STOP Obesity Alliance has done in primary care, focusing on the role that community health centers play in addressing obesity in the population.  I look forward to sharing the meeting outcomes of the symposium.

Jennifer Leonard, JD, MPH and Anna Stoto, Members of The George Washington University’s Research Team for the STOP Obesity Alliance

In the forum, Kyle pointed out, “Setting arbitrary BMI goals doesn’t work in wellness programs relating to obesity. What’s needed is access to effective treatment and a focus on longer-term (longer than six month) outcomes.” Employers expressed the need for flexibility in setting up their wellness programs while advocate groups pushed for a set of standards that would determine what a reasonable use of incentives would entail. HHS hopes to work out ways to strike an effective balance between employer flexibility and employee fairness that will lead to better outcomes and lower healthcare costs.

In a letter released after the forum, the Obesity Society – along with 17 other patient advocate groups and unions including the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network, and the ALF-CIO – addressed these issues with the secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury. The letter urged the administration not to allow employers to implement programs that would lead to discrimination or measures regarded as punitive.

Weight bias and stigma often lead to discrimination in the workplace and punitive treatment in workplace wellness programs. According to Kyle, pervasive weight bias makes obesity perhaps the most highly stigmatized common health condition. Research suggests that stigma makes obesity more resistant to treatment, reducing the likelihood of healthy behaviors.

For example, setting arbitrary BMI goals fails to consider that optimal health outcomes for different individuals come at distinctly different BMI values. To base incentives on BMI alone, therefore, can result in outcomes that may be unattainable. Moreover, the focus on a cosmetic ideal for a healthy body sets unrealistic expectations and leads to a state of learned helplessness, which in turn results in unsuccessful treatment of obesity.

A productive approach to wellness in the workplace would include realistic individual goals, such as attaining and maintaining a 5-10% reduction in weight, incentives for healthy behaviors (both nutrition and physical activity), a focus on health benefits that can be sustained over time, and a supportive work environment that encourages employees to practice healthy behaviors.

Ted Kyle, Co-Chair, Advocacy Task Force, The Obesity Society

Click here for more information on The Obesity Society.

Click here to download a PDF outline of ‘What works for wellness incentives’