Despite employers’ best efforts, workers aren’t getting healthier.
Only 28% of employees today say their overall health is excellent — down from 34% six years ago, found The State of Health in the American Workforce, a study just published by the Families and Work Institute.
The study also shows that men’s overall health is declining faster than women’s.
But the most troubling stat: Nearly half (49%) of employees admitted they hadn’t engaged in regular physical exercise in the last 30 days. And 22% of those workers hadn’t exercised rigorously at all in the last 30 days.
With employers more concerned — and active — than ever with trying to trim healthcare cost increases by getting employees to live healthier, this does not come as good news.
Two reasons employers’ efforts aren’t paying off:
- One in four workers continue to smoke, despite growing incentives to join smoking cessation programs, and
- Stress levels are rising — 40% of employees say they feel stressed regularly.
Most common treatments
- High blood pressure (21%)
- High cholesterol (14%)
- Diabetes (7%)
- Mental health (4%)
- Heart conditions (3%)