Obesity is ‘employer’s responsibility’
Employers should take more responsibility for ensuring their staff do not become obese, an official government body has said.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) – the body which produces official guidance in public health, health technologies and clinical practice – outlined its recommendation in a national guideline published at the end of last year.
The guideline contains wide ranging recommendations for employers including providing facilities and schemes such as cycling and walking routes and cycle parking. It also says employers should design buildings and spaces to encourage people to be more physically active, for example through positioning and signing of stairs, walkways and entrances.
“Obesity is the most serious threat to the future health of our nation. Its risks are as serious as smoking and urgent action is needed to tackle this problem now. For the first time we have brought together all the people that can help solve the obesity problem – not just health professionals, but also local councils, employers and schools – to produce a piece of work that sets out the steps we must take as a nation in order to tackle the obesity epidemic,” said Professor Peter Littlejohns, clinical and public health director at NICE.
Dr Les Smith, managing director of Health and Wellbeing UK, agreed that obesity should be on an employer’s agenda.
“While you cannot force wellbeing or healthy eating down people’s throats, there are work programmes that can be initiated to tackle obesity in the workforce,” he said. “It is extremely important as employees spend the majority of their time in a sedentary job.”
Obesity and the workplace 
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