What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides an easy-to-read set of evidence-based interventions for reduction of obesity and overweight status among working adults.  It is a set of formal recommendations from the Community Prevention Service Task Force (CPSTF) within the federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The recommendations highlight communities, worksites, schools and healthcare settings.  It is very short on definitive guidance for worksite-based obesity interventions but the span of evidence from other settings helps define what is likely to work in workplace settings.

Why is this important?

This infographic is important because it provides in one place all the recommended federal guidance on evidence-based interventions for weight management and control.  This is important because it potentially places in the hands of workplace wellness professionals the best science, we have on interventions for reducing obesity and overweight status in our working population. This document provides a clear and concise reference starting point for researchers, practitioners, and program administrators to move forward with science-based modifications for improved population health. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) recently estimated that obesity accounts for approximately 40% of all the cancer cases in the U.S. and an equally large proportion of the heart disease and diabetes care in our national population.

What can you do with this document?

• First, the document answers the question…”What weight management interventions should be implemented in which settings?”
• Next, skim the document for the major types of interventions that can be implemented in your worksite.
• Next, determine the interventions you would like to introduce in your organization.
• Next, have those interventions and the accompanying budget resources approved by senior management.
• Next, implement those interventions that are approved by senior management.
• Next, determine if aggregate screening data or aggregate health risk assessment data comparisons from previous to current periods indicate any improvement in the prevalence of obesity and overweight status in your work force.
• Finally, review your progress in managing this health risk periodically and consider whether additional weight management interventions are needed.

In summary, this evidence-based infographic provides a very useful piece of guidance for all workplace wellness professionals in dealing with the major health risk of obesity and overweight status in their working populations.