The Mississippi State Department of Health put workplace wellness into action with its six-month Healthiest Loser competition. 200 employees succeeded in losing weight – you can, too.
Over 700 employees took up the weight-loss challenge in October 2011, working in teams of 10-20 people. Teams competed to lose the most total weight, and helped each other to reach their physical activity and weight loss goals.
The results? Over 1,600 total pounds were lost, and two-thirds of those who completed the program succeeded in weight loss. Our winner, the Healthiest Loser, dropped 71 pounds, and the best-performing team dropped about 10 percent of their total weight.
Workplace Wellness Works
MSDH stood behind all the teams, providing monthly toolkits of diet and exercise tips. All participants had monthly weigh-ins to chart their progress, and see how their team was performing. No one took on the challenge of weight loss alone - they always had support from the workplace and their team members.
How We Did It
The key to a successful workplace wellness program is involvement. The organization made wellness a goal and supported the teams, and team members could rely on each other as well. You don't have to be a business owner to start making a difference. Employees can team up among themselves to achieve their wellness goals, and get their business or organization interested in supporting wellness.
How You Can Do It
Start your own wellness movement in your workplace. Our Worksite Wellness pages have complete resources to get your organization started.
- Make Workplace Wellness Work
Tools, tips, and a complete obesity prevention program ready to use.
Want to start your own Healthiest Loser contest or similar program? Here are the key ingredients.
Our Healthiest Loser dropped 71 pounds in six months with exercise and healthy eating.
- Make wellness a goal of your organization's leaders. Even better, make them team leaders in the weight loss effort.
- Build teams with a common goal instead of individuals struggling to make it on their own. Make sure that team leaders have the tools and knowledge to help their team succeed.
- Make sure everyone has access to quality advice on exercise and diet. Our Nutrition and Physical Activity toolkits are a good place to start. Or check out the same materials our Healthiest Loser teams used themselves at http://www.healthyms.com/msdhsite/healthiestloser
- Support participants by providing resources for their health like exercise facilities, extra time for daily walks, and healthy alternatives to snack foods in vending machines.
- Offer prizes! Organizations can be creative here; vacation days, parking spots and other perks can be as motivating as cash or merchandise.
- Keep involvement high with regular progress reports and sharing of success stories.
