Study showing 53% of adult Californians are overweight intensifies the push to get employers involved.
By NANCY LUNA
The Orange County Register
Looking to shed more than 20 pounds, Carlos Zuniga turned to an unlikely place to trim his waistline: a Mercedes-Benz dealership.
Zuniga, an auto-body technician at Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach, is part of a small number of California workers using employer-sponsored fitness and weight-loss programs. Using the dealership's personal trainer and gym, Zuniga lost 20 pounds.
Citing a $21.7 billion cost to businesses, state health officials asked more employers to offer similar incentives to curb obesity-related health conditions. In a new report released Tuesday, the state's Department of Health Services said California businesses are paying nearly triple the amount previously reported by federal health officials.
More than half of California adults are overweight, costing companies $1,500 for every worker. And, if obesity rates continue to climb, the study forecast the financial burden to jump to $28 billion in 2005.
"These new numbers should convince stakeholders to pitch in and help fix the problem," said Dr. Richard J. Jackson, state public health officer.
Among the chief reasons for the soaring number is that the state report documents for the first time the financial pinchemployers and health- care providers incur for "inactive" workers, in addition to adults who are overweight or obese.
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said obese and overweight adults cost California $7.7 billion. But the federal study did not include the tab for a sedentary workers, or folks that never exercise. The state report, however, calculates that cost at $13.3 billion, or more than half of the $21.7 billion.
"It is a major cost driver," said David Chenoweth, a spokesman for the North Carolina firm that conducted the study.
The state commissioned the report to obtain a true grasp of the economic impact that overweight and inactive adults have in the workplace, said Sue Foerster, nutrition director for the state agency. The hope, she said, is to use the data as evidence to push for employer-sponsored wellness programs to drive down these costs, including $388 million in workers' compensation claims related to overweight and inactive adults.
Chenoweth's firm analyzed more than 3 million medical claims in the state to come up with the data. Unlike federal studies, the state's economic report looked at lost productivity or work hours lost to sick days, short-term disability and "presenteeisn." The latter is a phenomenon referring to an employee who works, but not at full capacity.
All those factors cost businesses $11.2 billion, the study stated. Overall, health-care spending statewide hovers at $125 billion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
In the case of Zuniga, the auto-body technician sought help from his employer's Wellness Center to lose weight. For seven years, the dealership has operated an on-site fitness center for its 500 employees. The center also provides free help from three personal trainers.
Center Director Ken Roycroft helped Zuniga cut out his daily visits to a lunch-time "roach coach" and add more vegetables and lean proteins to his diet.That, combined with a workout program, helped Zuniga meet his 20-pound weight-loss goal.
Local companies including Fluor Corp., PacifiCare Health Systems, El Pollo Loco and Newport Corp. also offer employees free or discounted wellness programs. Perhaps the most comprehensive one is PacifiCare's Health Credits program.
Launched more than a year ago, the Cypress medical provider offers 4,000 employees cash and prizes such as spa certificates, mountain bikes and iPods for exercising and eating healthy.
Rick Graham joined the program last summer after the 5-foot-8-inch analyst saw his weight balloon to 235 pounds. He said the incentives, earned by logging his eating and exercise activity on a company Web site, motivated him to lose 40 pounds. He earns $15 every pay period, or $390 a year, for staying healthy.
"I definitely feel that if the program wasn't there, I would not have been successful," said Graham, 46, of Mission Viejo.
Despite the prizes and cash, Dr. Sam Ho, PacifiCare's chief medical officer, said it's not up to the company to do all the work.
Employees must be motivated to stay fit. He noted that only 25 percent of PacifiCare's employees take advantage of the Health Credits program - a relatively small, and disappointing number.
"If $400 in cash a year doesn't motivate them, then I don't know what will," Ho said.
Fluor's program also seems underused. About 100 of the Aliso Viejo firm's 1,400 employees take advantage of company's two gyms, offered at a cost of $9 per paycheck, Fluor officials said.
Human-resources consultant Philip A. Barquer agrees that obesity-related health conditions are partly to blame for driving up the cost of health care. However, he said he was skeptical about burdening companies, especially small ones, to fix the problem.
"Is an employer with 25 employees going to pay $25 per person for a gym membership? Probably not," said Barquer, president of HR Alternatives Inc. in Newport Beach.
Still, Foerster said employers don't have to make grand gestures to make a difference.
"It can be done in baby steps, such as having whole- grain items and water in a vending machine, or getting rid of the workplace candy bowl and replacing it with fruit," she said.
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
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