Corporate Wellness BlogCorporate wellness and employee wellness blog

Corporate Wellness Programs that support employees and the environment that they work in have been shown to be a good ROI. Corporate Wellness Programs can be extensive and sometimes costly. However, there are ways for small companies to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Corporate Wellness Program: Nutrition Activities

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

1. Offer healthy eating reminders and prompts to employees via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).
2. Offer appealing, low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.
3. Offer cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for employees’ families.
4. Ensure workplace cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
5. Offer healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.
6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.
7. Offer healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).
8. Offer taste-testing opportunities at the workplace.
9. Offer employee-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.
10. Offer local fruits and vegetables at the workplace (i.e. workplace farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).
11. Use competitive pricing (price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at higher prices).
12. Offer protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
13. Make kitchen equipment available to employees.
14. Offer an opportunity for workplace gardening if possible.

Sweetened Beverage Consumption

1. Make water available throughout the day.
2. Offer appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.
3. Modify worksite vending contracts to raise the number of healthy options.
4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.
5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.

Portion Control

1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.
2. Offer food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help employees assess portion size.
3. Offer appropriate portion sizes at meetings, workplace events and in the cafeteria.

Breastfeeding

1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed environment, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.
2. Offer flexible scheduling and/or workplace or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.
3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
4. Educate personnel on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.

Television & Food Advertising

1. Place TVss in non-eating areas of the workplace.
2. Limit food advertising in the cafeteria (i.e. print and other media).