Diabetes: An Epidemic’s Affect on the Workplace: According to Forbes.com a recent U.S. study bluntly suggests that obese and diabetic workers are less productive than their normal weight counterparts.
The report followed more than 7,000 workers and the findings showed that overweight or diabetic workers missed more than 2 hours of work because of health related problems when compared to other average weight co-workers. This estimate is based on weekly findings.
This translates to a potential 104 hours or more annually when the employee will not be available to work. That means these workers will use just over 2.5 weeks of sick leave each year just on weekly hours lost.
The Forbes.com report also states, “The survey found that obese people with type 2 diabetes reported impairment during 20 percent to 34 percent of their daily activities, such as taking care of children, shopping and exercising.”
These findings come from the American Journal of Health Promotion.
What this news means for business owners is that wellness programs can be of benefit to their overweight and diabetic employees as well as all other employees. The dollars business owners invest in wellness initiatives counteracts absenteeism based on health concerns. It can also provide strong motivation for individuals to succeed in weight loss goals or diabetic management plans.
Some believe that the extra funds required to administer this type of program are well worth it for a more the potential of a consistent workforce.
Meanwhile TheAge.com.au is reporting that Australian citizens are also struggling with advancing weight gain, “The National Health Survey, released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, has found disturbing increases in the numbers of adults and children who are overweight or obese. Using the body mass index yardstick, the survey shows that 68 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women were overweight or obese in 2007-08, compared with 64 per cent and 49 per cent in 1995. The highest overall rate, 67 per cent, was in the 55 to 74-year age group. Between 1995 and 2007-08, the proportion of obese children has risen from 5.2 per cent to 7.8 per cent — a rise almost entirely among boys, whose obesity rate has gone up from 4.5 per cent to an alarming 9.7 per cent (girls remain at 5.8 per cent).”
Between 2005 and 2007, “Lost productivity, welfare payments and careers’ costs,” increased by $37 billion dollars. This trend doesn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon.
TheAge.com.au argues that educational programs have not done an effective job at reaching the public and making a tangible difference. Far from decrying what doesn’t work to the exclusion of a solution TheAge suggests, “Two things are required to shift the public mindset. The first is to create a more holistic approach to obesity that takes it out of the realm of medical stigma and places it in a wider context of promoting and sustaining a healthier society through properly coordinated education and nutrition-awareness programs — something the Federal Government is already encouraging through its obesity inquiry and the establishment of the Preventative Health Taskforce.
“The second thing that should be done — in tandem with the first — is to toughen marketing guidelines, via a national co-ordinated strategy, to make it harder to advertise and promote unhealthy food, especially where children are concerned. For example, is it any longer appropriate for children who watch two hours of television a day to be exposed to up to 2200 junk-food advertisements a year?”
Whether it’s America, Australia or any of a great number of countries around the world diabetes is a real and present companion. Knowledge and wellness remain key components to the care and prevention of diabetes.
