Traditional workplace wellness has focused primarily on the physical aspects - through on-site screenings, health risk appraisal questionnaires, and perhaps some health coaching and education. But physical wellbeing is more than that.
Thriving in physical wellbeing does not just mean the absence of disease. It’s the energy and vitality to do everyday tasks with ease. Don’t get me wrong, health risks are important to consider, but they don’t tell the whole story.
Physical activity, simply moving around and being active, along with eating nutritious food and getting enough sleep are extremely important elements of physical wellbeing.
With each of these elements, workplace initiatives should aim to educate employees and arm them with the knowledge and skills to develop healthy habits. You can offer all the programs you’d like, but employees won’t engage unless it is on their own terms. You can’t reward or penalize someone into better health. Instead, focus your efforts on fostering an environment that supports overall wellbeing, where the healthy choice is the easier choice.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Going to the gym is not the only way to be physically active. And many of your employees may not respond well to the traditional “get to the gym” advice, as they don’t feel they have time for these kinds of workouts. But there are simple actions individuals can take to be more active – taking walks, choosing to use the stairs instead of the elevator, daily stretching, playing outside with your kids. These may seem minor, but every movement helps. Get up and move!
How can you help encourage your employees to get moving? One way is to implement a “Get Moving” policy. Educate employees on problems associated with sitting for extended periods of time and encourage them to stand up and move around for a few minutes throughout the day. Activities could include taking a short walk around the building, doing some simple stretches, walking a few flights of stairs, or anything that gets them active for a few minutes throughout their workday. Though it is important to note that this “policy” idea is intended to provide permission to employees to get up and moving; it is not meant to be policed.
What else can you do? Some employers choose to offer funds to help employees to make their workspace more conducive to physical activity such as standing desks or a foot peddler. Or for those employees who are interested in working out at a local gym, you could look for a group discount to provide them with.
HEALTHY EATING
When employees grab a snack to help them get through the day, why not make it easy to choose the healthier option? Snacking is actually a healthy habit – as long as your snacks are nutrient-rich! These can help keep employees’ energy levels high and mind alert.
Make healthy snacking options the easy choice in your workplace. Swap out the sodas and sugary snacks from vending machines with healthier options. Stock the office kitchen or lunchroom with nutritious snacks such as nuts, dried fruits, string cheese, and fresh fruit.
How else can you make the healthier choice the easier choice in your workplace? Consider nutrition when choosing meals for company functions. For example, opt for salads, sandwiches, and fruits over pizza lunches.
You can also provide adequate facilities for employees to store and prepare food. What if you have an employee who wants to eat a salad for lunch but has no place to keep it refrigerated? They could fall back on less healthy lunch options due to convenience. Make sure employees have the means to keep their lunches and snacks refrigerated and to safely reheat or cook food.
SLEEP
Getting enough sleep is essential to physical wellbeing. Tom Rath and Jim Harter of Gallup compare getting a good night’s sleep to hitting the reset button: “It clears our stressors from the day before. It also increases our chances of having energy and high wellbeing throughout the day.”
We’re all familiar with the recommendation to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Unfortunately, many people fall short of this number. The Centers for Disease Control estimate 40.6 million Americans get an inadequate amount of sleep.
What does this mean for your employees? Gallup’s research shows that as a result of less sleep, individuals “move slower, have trouble concentrating, become forgetful, make bad decisions, are more irritable, and show visible signs of sleeplessness.” If you’re striving for an engaged, productive workforce – these are definitely qualities to be avoided!
Sleep deprivation and fatigue can be harmful to your employees and your organization. So how can you promote better sleep habits? Encourage employees to take regular breaks and ensure there are reasonable work schedules in place. Promote or provide tips for good sleep at home such as limiting screen time and avoiding stimulants like caffeine too close to bedtime.
Don’t limit your physical wellbeing efforts to health risk assessments. Physical activity, healthy eating habits, and getting enough sleep are critical aspects to achieving a high level of physical wellbeing. Take action to encourage employees to develop and maintain the energy and vitality they need to get through their everyday tasks with ease.
Discover how physical activity can improve your child's physical health, brain function, and mood.
Discover how physical activity can improve your child's physical health, brain function, and mood.
Key points
- Physical activity keeps the body strong and healthy and can improve mental health by decreasing symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain, and loneliness.
- Physical activity can also improve focus, school performance, sleep, and energy levels.
- Children who participate in regular physical activity enjoy improved relationships and a more positive body image.
Top 3: What are the benefits of physical activity?
Benefits of activity for physical health
Regular physical activity helps develop your child’s fundamental movement skills (i.e. physical literacy). In addition to helping maintain healthy body weight, physical activity can help build healthy bones, muscles, heart, and lungs. Physical activity also helps your child keep healthy body weight.
While all physical activity is good physical activity, movement at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity (i.e., they type of activity which causes you to breath a bit harder and sweat) is linked to even more health benefits
Aside from providing general physical benefits, regular activity can also help ease symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (i.e. PMS) in girls. This is because moderate exercise helps the body produce hormones called endorphins. These are natural painkillers that can ease cramps and back pain as well as improve mood.
Benefits of activity for brain function
Physical activity plays an important role in developing the brain and supporting essential mental functions.
Exercise leads to improved motor skills (such as hand-eye coordination), better thinking and problem-solving, stronger attention skills, and improved learning. Not surprisingly, these all combine to benefit school performance. Even the simple act of playing outside with friends has been linked to children performing better on tests and assignments.
Benefits of physical activity for emotional and mental health
If your child has symptoms of depression or anxiety or even just an "off" day, physical activity may be the last thing on their mind. However, physical activity can help greatly with maintaining mental wellbeing. "Feel-good" chemicals in the brain, known as endorphins, are released by the brain during physical activity and help to improve mood, energy levels, and even sleep. Together, these positive effects help to improve self-confidence and resilience. Kids who get active every day are also better sleepers.
Reduced anxiety
Children who experience heightened anxiety tend to focus on anxiety-inducing things, which in turn makes them more anxious, so creating a vicious cycle. But, through physical activity, an anxious child can break the cycle by focusing on the demands of the physical activity, developing new skills, and achieving a sense of accomplishment. See your doctor if your child shows any signs and symptoms of anxiety.
Improved relationships
If a child or teen is feeling lonely and unable to make friends, shared physical activities can give them a sense of belonging and companionship. A child or teen with social anxiety might find it difficult to be in a group environment, but a focus, such as a sport, may relieve some of the social pressure. Over time, the act of sharing experiences with others, developing rapport, and working towards common goals can help a child focus and develop the confidence to speak up in class. It can also help foster friendships in school if the activities are school-based.
Improved body image (self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence)
When your child sees how fun it is to be able to dance, jump, walk, run, stretch, and play they are more likely to want to continue enjoying being active throughout their life. Seeing and appreciating what their body can do, rather than how it looks, is a great way for a child to build a positive body image and self-esteem. It is important to help your child develop this awareness as early as possible and to play your part in promoting a healthy body image through your own behavior.
The desire to look lean or muscular often becomes stronger during the pre-teen and teen years among both boys and girls. Your child is less likely to develop unhealthy habits to reach a so-called physical ideal if they have a healthy perception of what 'looking good' means, and understand that it comes from healthy, balanced habits.
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