Alarming Health Statistics
1.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over a third (33.2%) of Americans have hypertension.
2.
More than 100 million people are living with diabetes - 30 million with Type 1 or 2 and over 84 million with pre-diabetes.
3.
Over eleven percent (11.5%) of Americans have been diagnosed with heart disease which is ranked as the number one cause of death.
4.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports over 78 million adults in America are obese and projections suggest that by 2030, half of all adults (115 million people) will be obese.
5.
Companies spend over $8 Billion a year on workplace wellness programs, yet CDC research found that employees in the United States are in worse physical condition than ever.
6.
CDC research also found that although employers have provided wellness programs that focused on diet and exercise, obesity and chronic illness levels have continued to climb.
7.
The RAND Corporation, a research and analysis nonprofit institution, found:
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Less than 50% of employees are willing to undergo clinical screenings or health risk assessments.
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There was no statistically significant improvement in lowering health care costs or increasing health care use in companies supplying wellness programs.
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Incentives did little to motivate health behavior changes.
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About 70% of health-care costs have a direct relationship to personal behaviors.
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About 74% of all healthcare costs can be attributed to four chronic health conditions - diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Do those statistics reflect your workplace?
Do they support the values of health and well-being?
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When your workplace culture doesn't function in a way that promotes health and
well-being, it doesn't matter what wellness programs you provide.
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Now consider stress and the workplace and its influence on health and well-being.
1.
A burnout culture filled with a mounting workload, lack of support, organizational politics, and no trust is a leading cause of workplace stress.
2.
Workplace stress has adverse effects on mental health as well as an increased risk of anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. Stressed and burned-out workers are also more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors.
3.
The Mayo Clinic highlights the significant influence of stress on the body, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When left unchecked it contributes to many health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
4.
According to a 2015 American Psychological Association finding, adults in the United States average a stress level of 5.1 on a scale of 1 to 10.
5.
A StressPulse Survey found the following to be the main causes of stress in the workplace:
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6% - Lack of job security
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20% - Juggling work/personal lives
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28% - People issues
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46% - Workload
