Health on hold: Study reveals disturbing employee trend

As firms continue to fight for their survival in the current recession, an increasing number of their employees have moved up a weight class — or two.

According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, 43% of U.S. workers have gained weight in their current jobs.

A combination of stress over the current economy and poor eating habits seems to be spurring the increased weight gain in the U.S. workforce.

Check out the graph below to see just how many lbs. staffers are packing on.

The study also dissected people’s eating habits and found:

• 39% of employees eat out for lunch two or more times per week
• 12% of employees buy lunch from a vending machine at least once a week
• 67% of employees snack at least once a day, and
• 24% of employees admit to snacking twice a day.

There’s a good deal of research that proves unhealthy staffers carry significantly higher healthcare costs. Taking a proactive approach to helping these employees can benefit their overall well-being, as well as your bottom line.

Fortunately, reversing bad habits doesn’t take a complete lifestyle overhaul. Experts stress that little things can have a tremendous impact in halting the weight gain, including:

• bringing a lunch to work
• making it a point to get up from your desk several times throughout the day
• taking walks during lunch breaks, and
• biking to/from work.