Low-Cost Workplace Wellness Strategies: Nutrition Programs for Healthy Eating and Portion Control

Incentives for healthy living are a trend to watch, based on insights gathered in Anthem’s 2018 National Health Benefits Statistics & Trends Report. Adding healthy living features to your benefits offerings can lower health risk factors and slow down benefit cost increases. Workplace wellness programs are also a great way to foster engagement and increase employee morale. Although some workplace wellness programs can be expensive, there are many ways employers can make positive changes for little or no cost. In conjunction with our resources provided by HR360 the Employee Benefits Management Group (EBMG) at Rose & Kiernan, Inc. continues our series of low-cost workplace wellness strategies. The following are low-cost strategies that encourage employees to practice healthy eating and portion control.

To encourage healthy eating, provide healthy eating reminders to employees using posters, emails and intranet posts. Offer healthier food options in the vending machines and in the cafeteria, as well as at meetings, conferences and catered events. You can even price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at a higher cost than healthy options. Ensure that on-site cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards that align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  Provide cookbooks and cooking classes for employees and their families, and offer locally grown fruits and vegetables at the workplace. (This could be a workplace farmer’s market or a community-supported agriculture drop-off point). Another idea is to provide an opportunity for on-site gardening, if possible.

To encourage employees to practice portion control, label foods to show serving size and nutritional content. Provide food models or food scales for weighing and pictures to help employees assess portion size. Offer appropriate portion sizes at meetings, workplace events and in cafeterias.

By considering the strategies above, you can implement low-cost wellness activities to encourage best practices for better nutrition. For help setting up a workplace wellness program, contact Rose & Kiernan, Inc.

Rose & Kiernan, Inc. offers workplace wellness support through our signature platform RKHealthy Workforce. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us here or by calling (800) 242-4433.