Research shows five strategies have sufficient science-based evidence to help prevent obesity and chronic disease. Environmental and policy changes and activities on these topics are excellent ways to achieve healthy lifestyles in the workplace.

Strategy 1: Activities to promote 5 A Day (increased fruit and vegetable intake)

1. Offer appealing, low-cost, healthy food options, such as fruits and vegetables, juices, and low-fat dairy products in vending machines, snack bars, break rooms, and/or cafeterias. These can include fresh, canned, and dried fruits, 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, plain or mixed nuts, low-fat bagged snacks, nonfat yogurt and milk.
2. Post motivational signs about 5 A Day, nutrition, and healthful eating in the cafeteria and break rooms.
3. Just as employees often organize to purchase coffee or spring water as a group, encourage employees to organize for group purchases of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy snacks.
4. Distribute 5 A Day materials and messages on worksite bulletin boards and newsletters.
5. Establish an on-site or neighborhood farmers’ market at a workplace or among several workplaces in collaboration with a group of employers.
6. Place nutrition action stickers on phone handsets or other “in your face” locations.
7. Offer coupons for fruits and vegetables as reward for work well done or some other reason.
8. Distribute educational materials, such as newsletters, recipes, brochures, and posters, at workplaces that show the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and how to prepare healthy meals throughout the day.

Strategy 2: Activities to Decrease TV Viewing

1. Reduce television viewing time by sponsoring a “Turn off TV Night” and offer alternatives for employees and their families to choose from.
2. Provide information to parents in reducing TV viewing time of children.
3. Offer parenting programs addressing parental monitoring and setting of rules (e.g. no TV in a child’s bedroom, not having the TV on all of the time, not letting children watch TV alone, not watching TV during meals).
4. Sponsor family game night for employees and families to encourage alternatives to TV viewing. Include active games such as bocce, croquet or disc golf.

Strategy 3: Activities to Decrease Caloric Intake – Quality of Diet

1. Provide healthy choices in vending machines.
2. Create a worksite culture that minimizes consumption of low-nutrition foods and beverages, such as cakes at parties, candy bowls, and sweets as rewards.
3. Offer healthful food alternatives at meetings, company functions, and health education events.
4. Make available reliable resources on general nutrition related to portion size (for example, portion size placemat or plate, food models).
5. Promote healthy eating lifestyles by providing cooking classes to educate on techniques of healthy cooking and incorporating healthy foods into meals.
6. Make water available throughout the day by providing a bottled water dispenser in your worksite.
7. Collaborate with nearby restaurants and/or local dining establishments to offer healthy foods and promote nutritious specials at reasonable prices.
8. Promote healthy eating behaviors by offering nutrition education classes based on assessments of interest and need.
9. Provide protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
10. Place prompters for healthy food choices on vending machines.
11. Make refrigerators available for employees’ food storage.
12. Provide incentives for participation in nutrition and/or weight management/maintenance activities.
13. Start a healthy recipes exchange where employees swap recipes.
14. Just as employees often organize to purchase coffee or spring water as a group, encourage employees to organize for group purchases of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy snacks.
15. Encourage local restaurants to offer smaller or ½ portion meals on menus at reduced prices.
16. Encourage more family meals.
17. Limit consumption of sweetened beverages.

Strategy 4: Activities to Increase Physical Activity

1. Provide quality/safe sidewalks, trails, pedestrian and bicycle access to your worksite.
2. Promote increased bicycling by providing a bike rack for parking at the worksite.
3. Provide clean, safe, and aesthetically appealing stairwells, and post motivational signs at elevators and escalators to encourage usage.
4. Establish on-site fitness rooms or exercise facilities and offer opportunities, such as group classes or personal training.
5. Encourage use of programs like 10,000 Steps, Active for Life, or others as appropriate and of interest to employers and employees.
6. When building new or renovating your facility, set standards for construction so that your facilities will encourage physical activity.
7. Support and promote physical activity breaks during the workday, such as stretching or walking.
8. Implement incentive-based programs to encourage physical activity, such as pedometer walking challenges.
9. Host a walk with the manager program.
10. Post motivational signs at elevators and escalators to encourage usage.
11. Offer flexible work hours to allow for physical activity during the day.
12. Support recreation leagues, community and state park programs with employees.
13. Provide incentives for participation in physical activity and or weight management/maintenance activities.
14. Explore discounted memberships at local health clubs, recreation centers, or YMCA’s.
15. Provide articles in employee newsletters promoting physical activity and current opportunities to participate.
16. Display key messages to encourage physical activity on signs or display boards.
17. Post notices of upcoming events in the community, school or faith-based organizations on bulletin boards or email lists.
18. Use multiple channels for interventions, such as community recreation/leisure facilities, on site worksite opportunities, private wellness facilities and state and local parks.
19. Conduct healthy eating and physical activity special events such as a company walk and invite community to join.

Strategy 5: Activities to Increase Breastfeeding

1. Establish workplace programs that promote breastfeeding including a place to pump or breastfeed.
2. Develop of resources to target public education that links the impact of breastfeeding to obesity prevention. Make electric breast pumps available at the worksite or provide to employees who breastfeed.
3. Develop social support resources for breastfeeding women (i.e. peer counselor and mother–to mother networks)
4. Establish workplace programs and policies that promote breastfeeding.
5. Provide telephone or in-home breastfeeding support (peer counseling).
6. Designate specific areas to support employees with sensitive health issues, such as diabetics and nursing mothers.
7. Facilitate breastfeeding or breast milk expression in the workplace by providing private rooms, commercial grade breast pumps, milk storage arrangements, adequate breaks during the day, flexible work schedules and onsite childcare facilities.
8. Establish family and community programs that enable breastfeeding continuation when women return to work in all possible settings.
9. Encourage childcare facilities to provide quality breastfeeding support.