Obesity crisis: what can employers do to protect their people & profits?

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Employers can play a positive role in the fight against obesity, which is contributing to the current record high numbers of people off work and in ill health, affecting the UK’s productivity. If you don’t believe it’s an employer’s role to get involved with this growing (excuse the pun) issue, then this feature explains why it is, and why now.

All employers can help, regardless of whether they operate in a food-related sector or not.

Here are a few ideas.

Also, don’t miss our sister event The Watercooler on 30 April and 1 May 2025 in London where we are hosting a session on ‘the link between the food we eat and our health crisis – what employers can do to help’. For more details on this event on shaping the future of work, wellbeing, culture and innovation, see here

Push for regulation

Historically the government has found it difficult to legislate on anything that affects food companies’ profits because of the powerful food lobby. The food companies have mostly successfully argued that regulation – such as any changes to their ingredients or marketing -would adversely affect them and, therefore, the UK’s economy. 

Now, however, obesity is arguably affecting the UK’s general health and productivity more. Obese employees take significantly more short, and longterm, sickness absence than their healthy-weight counterparts, for example, according to a study by the University of London, taking on average four days more sick leave per year.

However, governments are typically very wary of upsetting large corporations, as well as voters, at their next election with controversial policy. 

So, as obesity campaigner Dr Dolly van Tulleken says, we cannot underestimate the power of individuals, particularly influential business leaders, voicing their concern on this issue. If enough consumers and businesses can create a “public demand”, she says, then it makes it easier for government to introduce regulation. 

“A cacophony of consumer and business voices would really help,” she says.

If you are arguing your case, include that previous legislation has been effective

Getting senior buy-in can be tricky for professionals working in Workplace Wellbeing and leaders can often worry that their workforce may perceive them as too paternalistic if they get involved in health issues – such as voicing their concern about the quality of the food environment and the need for regulation to ensure healthier options predominate.

However there is much evidence that regulation works for everyone. The introduction of the tobacco ban in 2006/7 is one example. The Soft Drinks Industry Levy is another, which came into force in 2018, when Sir David Cameron was Prime Minister.

When interviewed for the Nourishing Britain report about this he said that the Levy showed that manufacturers could actually change their formulas quickly, and profitably, and that regulation did serve to reduce consumption of sugary drinks. 

In this report he says:

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“There is even evidence that the tax has been followed by a drop in the number of older primary aged children living with obesity…. And showed, you can do it without upending industries or damaging the economy.”

Get behind an existing campaign for change

There are also existing campaigns that employers can get behind, such as Action on Sugar and the Obesity Health Alliance

As Tam Fry, Chairman of the UK’s National Obesity Forum, says, employers can also put pressure on government to take action via corporate bodies like the Confederation of British Industry (CBI):

“The CBI and Unions should be saying ‘obesity is killing the economy, enough is enough, we would like to propose that you help us in the workplace with policy that will be universal and affordable and will be good for our people’.”

If you are in the health sector… shout loudly

“Health related businesses, especially in the food sector, especially those not selling ultraprocessed foods, should be screaming from the rooftops about what they need from government in terms of investment, regulation and incentives,” says Dr van Tulleken.

Ask leaders what they want their legacy to be 

Another way to get buy in….

Several experts interviewed for this article suggested asking leaders the powerful question: what do you want to be your legacy? Which side of history do you want to be on regarding the obesity crisis?

Workplace health and wellbeing advocate, Stuart Mace suggests that it can be often thought that senior management may not feel it’s their responsibility to do something that can help the obesity crisis. To support a lasting and healthy legacy, he recommends understanding what drives leaders:

“When I have health and wellbeing conversations I ask leaders or entrepreneurs why they do their jobs. The default reason most people give is ‘money’. But I really don’t think that is the reason for most people. Especially if they set up their own business. I think most leaders want to push the envelope, they want to be creative and innovative, they want to see how they can potentially change the world, or make things better. How they feel comes back to their purpose. And most leaders care about the impact they have on individuals that work for them. Therefore, I’d ask them ‘what’s best for your people?’ Because that will have a ripple effect across society’.”

While the research is currently limited, there is already some evidence that catering services in worksites can contribute to healthy eating habits in the general population, according to studies by the National Library of Medicine in the US.

These kinds of questions are particularly powerful if leaders have children, as the research shows that people are more likely to back change if it creates more positive outcomes for children. This was a key component of the success of the tobacco legislation.

Increasingly, especially with employers having to report on their social impact, businesses are expected to contribute positively to their people and communities.

Many people agree with Mace that “organisations should start to take more responsibility for the effect they have on society and people are looking for work that is good for them, not just a job”.

Educate your employees about healthy eating and so-called ‘healthy’ products

Employers can also help by educating their employees about what constitutes ‘healthy’ food and help them navigate the confusing maze of food labels.

A big challenge currently is that many products which market themselves as ‘healthy’ are, in fact, not. They may have ‘reformulated’ their ingredients by reducing sugar or fat – and therefore label them as healthy or ‘diet’ – but they have often added other ultraprocessed ingredients in their place.

“They might reformulate with something like a sweetener or emulsifiers or other unhealthy alternatives that you often won’t be able to pronounce. They are not good for you even if marketed as healthy,” says Dr van Tulleken.

Use your food environment at work to aid the education and change process

As part of the education process and building healthier workforces, employers can ensure the food available at work is healthy and appealing.

Dr van Tulleken gives the example of how this could be done:

“There is a charity called Chefs in Schools which provides nutritious, delicious food for students, making visiting the dining hall and education in itself. I would love to see a ‘Chefs in Business’ with a similar idea where employers have the opportunity to make decisions over the food that’s in their canteen. The chefs really emphasise flavour and cultural diversity, and can be done on a budget.”

Obviously it takes time for people to adapt to changes like this and employers may need to use tools like vouchers or incentives at the beginning. But Chef in School’s experience is that students have been very adaptable and Chief Executive Naomi Duncan is hopeful the new government will “stand by its word” because “we have no future without healthy, happy future generations”. 

Transforming our food environment is key to fighting obesity and so workplaces have “an ideal opportunity to do this and address our nation’s poor health diet”, says Dr van Tulleken.

However, the reality is that many workplaces still have vending machines full of sugary or sweetener-filled fizzy drinks and chocolate bars, and often food served at working lunches is often unhealthy.

Canteen food is often criticised for being nutrient-poor, energy dense and expensive, according to research from Bournemouth University, published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management. This report also points out the lack of policy that regulates the provision of healthy food in workplace canteens.

Make healthy choices part of your culture

Sports brand Björn Borg makes it clear that exercise is baked into the culture and prospective employees are expected to embrace this – its recruitment website makes clear that “we want you to feel good and get stronger when you are working with us, that is why we close the office and have a sports hour together every friday from 11 – 12”.

“They are saying ‘it’s a given that you do this, this is part of our culture’,” says Mace, adding that if everyone else is doing this it builds momentum and social connection and makes it harder for someone to opt out than opt in. Clearly, it is finding employees who appreciate this clear approach about its culture because it boasts an 80% employee growth rate and 81% employee engagement rate (this includes worklife balance, mental health and wellbeing).

Offer your employees weight loss medication like Ozempic

There’s been much high profile media coverage lately around weight loss medication such as Ozempic, with many people saying it has been life-changing for them. 

The government has cited weight loss medication as a potentially powerful tool to fight the obesity crisis with, announcing the NHS is to invest £279m in Greater Manchester trial to look at whether it will reduce worklessness.

But the number of people eligible for the medication is likely to far outstrip the budget. That’s one reason why some employers are now starting to step in and offer their employees the medication.

One company working with employers to do this is eMed Healthcare UK. 

 “We are gaining more and more traction from corporates who come to us and say they are interested in offering it as a new employee benefit in order to support employees to lose weight to better manage their weight,” says James Entwistle, Enterprise Sales & Business Development Director at eMed.

 Where an employer can really add value alongside the medication to ensure the best chance of success is in supporting the employee with the behaviour change programme which includes exercise and nutrition.

Entwistle argues that one of the reasons he’s seen the weight loss medication work so well is that it provides much needed momentum to the individuals at the start of the process, which inspires them to keep going:

“How will people get the positive momentum to lose weight? Because it’s not by keeping telling them that broccoli is better than burgers! We have found medication does this effectively because it works from month one and when people quickly see their body changing they believe it works and it starts a new story for them. At that point they might say ‘OK, maybe broccoli is something I should try’.” 

 Obviously if individuals purely rely on medication to prevent ill health that doesn’t promote a preventative culture, it medicalises culture. However, what’s proving effective with this weight loss drug as an example is the medication alongside the support to change nutrition, physical activity and mindset.

“Losing weight is not just about losing weight, it’s about your body and mind changing, so you need a lot of the right level support,” says Entwistle.

Go Japanese: measure your employees’ waistlines annually

This may seem like an extreme idea, but it’s one that has reportedly worked wonders for Japan’s obesity problem under its ‘Metabo Law. This law requires employers to measure the waistlines of their employees each year and, if they increase, the company incurs a fine.

National Obesity Forum’s Fry believes that this would be the most effective way for the UK to tackle the issue, too.

“When it was introduced, it was found to be extremely unpopular but is now very popular and works” he says. “Employees would feel so much better if their employer, along with the government, was to say ‘we are going to demand, as part of your contract, that you keep yourself in shape and we will help you’. We want to prevent you putting on weight for your own good’.”

Many others, consulted for this article, are sceptical about whether this would work in the UK, arguing the culture here is too different and works in Japan because the society is much more rule-based.

Dr van Tulleken worries that this kind of law “shames” and puts the onus/blame on the individual, increasing stigma. 

“You could argue that this kind of initiative is about educating people about their own health,” she says. “But we’ve been telling people for decades how to eat healthier to lose weight. That’s not the problem.”

She argues that the real problem is that “we are putting them in a food context that makes it really difficult to make these healthier choices; the market makes it virtually impossible to lose weight because we’re all trying to navigate a food environment that is dominated by ultraprocessed food and where it’s hard to work out what food is genuinely good for you.”

Fry advocates that a British Metabo type law could look quite different from the Japanese one, but he believes that the workplace needs to play a more proactive role and take more drastic action to get the results it needs.

Incentivise employees to lose weight

Some companies are incentivising employees to lose weight using financial rewards and paid days off, particularly in America. One company – Freedom One Financial Corp – is offering up expenses paid holidays to employees who meet weight loss goals.

While this, again, may seem like an extreme idea there is some merit in the idea of creating a corporate community around people supporting each other to lose weight. A Scottish oil refinery which ran a 24 week weight loss programme found that over half of participants lost 5% of their starting weight and were able to maintain this new weight, according to a Glasgow University study.

The advantage of a corporate club rather than a diet club outside work is that employees can support each other on a daily basis and can be conscious of people’s goals. This network could also be supported by objective education on healthy diets.

Fry points out one of the problems with financial incentives around weight loss as being “what happens when the budget runs out and you can’t incentivise people anymore?”

Tap into what the NHS is already doing in your area

“Contact your local hospital or health centre and ask ‘do you have anything which I can send my employees on?’” suggests Fry.

Bear in mind that the hardest part of this might be finding the right NHS contact to answer this question but bear with it, as this time investment will pay off, as Jaguar Land Rover Chief Medical Officer Dr Steve Iley tells us in this article, about his experience working with the NHS.

Don’t miss our sister event The Watercooler on 30 April and 1 May 2025 in London where we are hosting a session on ‘the link between the food we eat and our health crisis – what employers can do to help’. For more details on this event on shaping the future of work, wellbeing, culture and innovation, see here.

You might also like:

https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/obesity-and-work

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