FIT CITY

Employers making changes to get healthier employees

Mayor's fitness council pushes actions for Austin workers.

By Pamela LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, August 18, 2008

The mayor of Austin wants this city's workers to be stronger, leaner and saddled with lower health care costs.

In 2004, inspired by Austin's poor ranking in a Men's Fitness magazine list of fittest cities, Mayor Will Wynn formed the Mayor's Fitness Council. His goal? Help Austin become the fittest city in the country by 2010.

With a crowded downtown hike-and-bike trail, nearly 100 organized runs a year and a population seemingly obsessed with organic food, it might seem like we're already among America's fittest.

But 60 percent of adults in Austin are overweight or obese, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 21 percent of Travis County adults did no leisure time physical activity within the past month, 75 percent of us eat fewer than five fruits or veggies a day, and 18.8 percent of us smoke.

Egad.

Two years ago, the fitness council came up with a Partners for Change certification program to encourage businesses to get their employees more fit. It teamed with 16 local companies in a pilot program, certifying seven of them.

Each company surveyed its employees, finding out about exercise, nutrition and smoking habits. Then the city helped those companies institute programs and policy changes to help their employees inch down that road toward fitness.

Now the fitness council is trying to expand that program. In recent weeks, it's been hosting luncheons, targeting local companies and encouraging them to get certified as a Partner for Change. The goal is to recruit 100 companies to participate in a Jan. 13 training conference.

In a nutshell, the fitness council wants all of us to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days, up our fruit and veggie consumption, cut our junk food habit and quit smoking.

"It's like inertia — the hardest thing to do is start," says Lou Earle, vice chair of the fitness council and publisher of Austin Fit and Austin Runner magazines.

In case losing weight, feeling better and looking better weren't inspiration enough, fitness council members point to the bottom line.

"It's not just about the health of America, Texas and Austin, it's about economics," said Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, vice president and chief medical director of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Healthier employees improve productivity, boost morale, decrease turnover, reduce absenteeism and ultimately lower health care costs, he says.

The Seton Family of Hospitals was among the first to get certified as a Partner for Change. After surveying its employees, the hospitals group decided to focus on nutrition. Then it posted healthy options in the hospitals' cafeterias and started offering healthier food options at business meetings. (No more fried chicken or cheesy pizza!)

"That's not a hard thing to do, but it's something we hadn't thought about," says Michele Gonzalez, director of media and communications for the Seton group. Seton also started training programs for local foot races, and is organizing yoga classes and group bicycle rides. "We made sure people understood: walk, jog, run — it doesn't matter. Get started first, then worry about fitness level."

Other companies have made similar changes. Humana of Central and South Texas has set up workstations at its office where employees can walk on treadmills while they work on computers. It also changed the price structure at its cafeterias, charging more for things such as burgers and fries and less for salads.

Austaco Inc., which owns 70 local Taco Bell restaurants, now keeps a fruit basket on hand and has banished sugary drinks from vending machine at its corporate offices. It also recognizes employees who exercise and holds employee meetings to address nutrition and exercise.

It's a plan we'd all do well to follow.

"We can't do anything about the cost of health care, but we can have an impact on the need for health care," Wynn says.

He's not stopping with Austin, either. He wants to duplicate the certification program in other cities.