First year results of an environmental intervention aimed at reducing overweight and obesity and the workplace

A growing body of literature supports the effectiveness of individually focused worksite health promotion programs in reducing workers' health risk factors, including overweight and obesity. There is increased interest in studying environmental interventions that support individual change efforts through the creation of more supportive environments. With funding support from the NHLBI, two levels of environmental weight management interventions were implemented in 12 worksites at The Dow Chemical Company. Using a quasi-experimental study design, nine intervention sites (n=8,013) received two levels of environmental interventions in addition to standard ongoing individual interventions and three control sites (n=2,268) received only the individual interventions. Weight-related outcomes measures (e.g., BMI) and weight-related risk factors (e.g., poor nutrition, poor physical activity/exercise, and cholesterol) were analyzed for changes over time within and between treatment groups using McNemar chi-square tests and independent sample t-tests. The analyses were conducted with and without the application of propensity score weights, which equalize intervention and control site subjects on factors influencing their placement in treatment conditions. First year results show that workers at intervention sites achieved statistically significant improvements in weight reduction and other health risk factors compared to workers at control sites. A gender effect was found, with men achieving greater risk reduction than women. Also examined were the effects of participation on employee absenteeism and presenteeism (on-the-job-productivity losses). Environmental intervention strategies can be effective in helping individuals lose or moderate weight. It is recommended that practitioners consider including environmental strategies as part of their weight loss intervention efforts.