Desk jobs making more people obese, study finds

Desk jobs are increasing obesity, with many employees and employers ignorant of the risks of sitting down all day. A link between obesity and conditions in the workplace was growing. As the workplace becomes our second home, our traditional diets have been swapped for fast food that is high in saturates.

"A basic cause of obesity related to the workplace is a lack of awareness of how serious this issue is among employers and employees," said Athena Linos, an epidemiology lecturer at Athens University. "Factors include work-related stress, overtime and desk-bound jobs."

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The Future of the Workplace

Posted on CNN earlier today:

Work stations with a built-in treadmill and portable meeting rooms are just some of the developments that may become commonplace in the offices of the future. Workplace technology has changed dramatically in recent years and the offices we work in are finally set to catch up. The advent of laptops, wi-fi and BlackBerries means that high-tech workers are no longer tethered to their desks, and the office of the future will be designed to let workers roam.

Dutch designer Michiel van der Kley has come up with Globus, a stylish spherical "podule" that looks like a piece of art, but is actually a mobile work station. Open it up, take a seat, switch on your laptop and you're good to go. If you need to see a colleague you can take your laptop with you and talk shop at a ScooterDesk, an ultra-mobile mini work station by Belgian design firm Utilia.

Another Belgian company, Living Tomorrow, predicts that as we become increasingly able to work from home, workplaces will spend more time unoccupied. It says flexibility will be the key to filling unused space, which means that as well as mobile work stations, we'll be seeing mobile meeting rooms.

Offices of the future may include more informal team areas,

like this one designed by Perkins + Will.

Healthy Employees are a Win/Win for Everybody

“Almost a third of companies offering health insurance benefits to their employees also provide a wellness program of some sort. Fitness, smoking cessation and weight-loss programs are provided most frequently, according to 2006 employer health benefits survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The telephone survey contacted 2,122 randomly selected public and private employers,” according to a CNN article.

Recently, MedCom began offering reimbursement to its employees for active enrollment in health and weight-loss programs. The atmosphere within the answering service industry is primarily a sedentary lifestyle. This 24/7 job typically requires agents to be deskbound in order to properly handle clients’ calls just as in most call centers. Consistently sitting behind a desk restricts the amount of activity agents get throughout the day. By MedCom offering to offset costs of joining weight control programs, meetings with health counselors, nutritional guidance and exercise plans, the MedCom administration hopes to motivate their employees to begin or even continue taking action to improve their health.

In addition to offsetting the cost of these wellness programs, MedCom implemented a smoking cessation plan. The goal is to help employees quit smoking. Quitting smoking along with active participation in wellness programs can enhance the overall company’s health. This improvement in health can go a long way for both the employees and the company.

"Health and wellness programs at work are a win/win situation for everybody," says Richard Taylor, vice president of human resources at Intel. "We keep our insurance costs down, and the employees are offered free health and wellness opportunities."

Exercise by Playing Video Games???

With so many diets and exercise programs out there today, not many of them come with an entertainment factor, let alone getting exercise by playing video games. The Nintendo Wii has become a widely used gaming console known for making the participants get up and act out the desired motions. I have seen Wii gamers of all ages; children as young as first grade all the way up to my 80+ year old grand parents playing games on the Wii. Nintendo plans to release “Wii Fit,”to make exercising fun and possible from the comfort of your own home.

“If Nintendo has their way your living room could be the new big thing in exercise. Personal trainer Robert Dothard said the focus on balance in "Wii Fit" is what makes the workout great. With its new game "Wii Fit" hitting stores Monday, Nintendo is looking to bring exercise into the home, making people more aware of their bodies and starting to create a comfortable, fun environment to get healthy. Personal trainer and fitness expert Robert Dothard said making exercise available and enjoyable in your home means reaching an audience of people who often feel embarrassed walking in to a traditional gym. "I had a real difficult time training people in front of what I called 'God and everybody' -- with the whole gym looking," he said. "If someone is not in good shape you know and they are in the public gym and they're not performing well it's an uncomfortable feeling." "Wii Fit" which retails for $90, comes with the game and a "balance board" which is used to calculate your Body Mass Index, weight and measure shifts in your balance at the beginning of each session. Users then choose different workouts from the categories of strength training, aerobics, yoga and balance. Each area features different short workouts ranging from a minute to upwards of 10 minutes including push-ups and side planks, skiing, jogging and seeing how many times you can spin Hula Hoops.”

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