


Let’s be honest. Everyone gets excited when they are greeted by a box of doughnuts in the break room every so often.

However, the culture of food as a reward and a lack of healthy alternatives can quickly become a recipe for disaster when it comes to our health.

The average full-time employee spends the majority of their wakeful days at work, making access to healthy foods in the workplace a promising platform to encourage healthy behaviors.

Many chronic diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, are affected by unhealthy eating over time. Though the disease is characterized by high blood sugar, sugar intake is not necessarily the sole enemy for Type 2 diabetes onset. Unhealthy eating and overeating in general, family history, age, an overweight or obese status and lack of physical activity all play a part in increasing the risk of onset and complications.

Since November is National Diabetes Month, let’s dive into the impact Type 2 diabetes has on Americans and the economy.

Type 2 diabetes prevalence is often compared to an iceberg, with the visible portion representing 30.3 million, or 9.4 percent of Americans living with Type 2 diabetes in 2015. The invisible bottom of the iceberg represents 84.1 million Americans living with prediabetes, 9 out of 10 of whom are unaware they have it.

This preventable disease accounts for close to 20 percent of U.S. healthcare spending. As Type 2 diabetes prevalence and health spending are expected to rise in years to come, it is important to move the needle toward a culture of health in your workplace. Here are some ideas to get the ball rolling:

Start a wellness committee. Identify a group of motivated individuals who want to make a difference in regards to health in your workplace. Schedule a monthly meeting to allow these health champions to plan and implement policies, events and challenges, and build a culture of health. Establish an action plan with specific objectives to promote worksite wellness.

Establish a nutrition policy. A nutrition policy can include specific guidelines to help make decisions for food and beverages at work events. This policy can include a protocol to always offer water and unsweetened beverages, a list of items that should not be present on the menu, and guidance that encourages purchasing foods with whole grains, lean protein, fruits and vegetables. Recommendations can also discourage food items with excess saturated fat, sodium and added sugar. A “swappable items list” that, for example, suggests using skim milk instead of 2 percent milk can be a helpful addition to your toolkit.

Role model. A supervisor can have the visibility to influence healthy change in a work culture. Role modeling healthy behaviors can have an effect on employee morale and influence health decisions. Other role modeling behaviors can include encouraging sales representatives to bring healthy options and hosting business lunches at healthy restaurants.

Offer healthy vending. There are those days when lunch was left on the counter at home or time is too limited to go out for lunch. Most people know that an apple is healthier than a cookie. However, when there are only cookies available, it can be difficult to make the decision to skip it when hunger strikes. Offering healthy vending options, both snacks and drinks, is an environmental change that can have a strong effect on food choices.

Encourage healthy alternatives at parties. Life is full of reasons to celebrate, however, celebrations do not require the presence of cake. Rethink the typical foods that celebrate holidays and birthdays by introducing fruit and vegetable platters and serving-size appropriate sweets.

While keeping these nutrition-related tips in mind, it is important to recognize that worksite wellness and its capacity to move the needle stretches beyond nutrition strategies and includes other aspects such as physical activity, stress and flexibility. Environmental changes and consistent adherence to wellness policies have the capacity to have the most noteworthy impact on health.

Shanthi Appelo is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at the Knox County Health Department.

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