While working as a secretary for three years, I got sick of sitting down all the time and feeling like I wasn't doing anything. I walked the mile-plus to and from work as often as I could, but during the day I still felt like a slug. Not fun.
When I heard about these, I became really jealous and really wanted one for my office. It never happened.
Here's a short video explaining more:
The intervention that I looked at for obesity prevention is one for the workplace community.
This intervention uses "informational and educational strategies to increase knowledge about a healthy diet and physical activity," such as printed materials and lectures. Another aspect of the intervention is aimed to change behavior. They provide group counseling and skill-building opportunities. The last focus is on policy. The aim here is to make healthy foods more available and affordable in the cafeterias, as well as increase insurance benefits for healthy living, gym memberships, etc.
The interventions most commonly used included informational and behavioral components, with a few of them aiming for policy and environmental changes in the workplace.
All of the types of interventions showed positive results in behavior, weight, and BMI. It didn't seem to matter if the intervention focused on diet, exercise, or both, they were all effective.
Thinking back on my own experience while working, I always participated in the activity/dietary challenges that the organization provided for its workers, however I tended to stop as soon as (or shortly after) the required time was over. It seems that if we had had opportunities such as this one providing counseling and/or workshops to increase knowledge and influence behavior, I may have been more likely to actually make some lasting changes.
information about the intervention can be found here.
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