Overcoming Obesity to Create a Healthier Workforce

An unhealthy lifestyle and poor diet can lead to increased mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Unlike physical symptoms, these psychological symptoms are often more challenging to pick on.

FREMONT, CA: Health is wealth, and staying healthy is of prime importance in this millennial era. Amongst the many factors hindering a healthy lifestyle, obesity stands out. Obesity is a top concern across all age groups today, restricting the human body from achieving its maximum potential. However, there is more to obesity than just going up a waist size. Carrying excess weight can result in more significant risks, like inducing life-threatening conditions like diabetes, heart diseases, and cancer.

Being overweight also poses multitudes of challenges to daily life like tiredness, backache, and breathing difficulties, often triggered by putting extra strain on joints. To simplify, obesity can make day to day tasks that we take for granted, much harder.

An unhealthy lifestyle and poor diet can also lead to increased mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Unlike physical symptoms, these psychological symptoms are often more challenging to pick on.

An average employee spends a third of their lives at work, and employers clearly have the opportunity to help their employees to lead a healthier life. Contrary to most authorities' believe, workplace habits can shape essential lifestyle factors from what the employees eat to how active they are. By promoting healthy habits and behaviors, business leaders can create a happier, fitter, and more productive workforce. Offering wellness benefits, discounted gym memberships, and healthy eating options are good options to start with.

Keeping Weight in Check

Most employees blame their work for their choice of food and exercise. A research study by the recruitment website CV-Library shows that nearly three-quarters of employees believe their work negatively affects their choice of food, and over 36 percent believe they gain weight as a result. However, when it comes to shedding weight, it can get a little more complicated than just cutting out a slice of your cake. Regular exercise is the key to go along with a healthy diet. This can help keep the body in optimum condition, both physically and mentally.

There is a vast misconception that reducing calories in your diet plan can help shed excess weight. On the contrary, reducing calories in your diet leads to lower metabolism rates, making it challenging to stay healthy in the long run. Regular exercise leads to improved metabolism, which in turn, helps burn calories and loses weight. By combing a healthy diet with regular exercise, one can see the benefits on their body and general life.

However, even as employees realize the need for a healthy diet and exercise, their work continues to remain as one of the hindering factors. In most cases, employees skip their routine exercise as they have to stay late at work. Employers must become the enablers to help their employees to overcome this hurdle. Discounted gym memberships, lunchtime exercise classes, yoga, and company fun runs are some of the ways in which employers can encourage their employees to exercise and stay fit. Allowing flexible timings can help employees to fit in some 'me time' into their busy work schedules.

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