Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2009 Feb;51(2):125-38.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181954b03.

First-year results of an obesity prevention program at The Dow Chemical Company

Ron Z Goetzel  1 , Kristin M Baker, Meghan E Short, Xiaofei Pei, Ronald J Ozminkowski, Shaohung Wang, Jennie D Bowen, Enid C Roemer, Beth A Craun, Karen J Tully, Catherine M Baase, David M DeJoy, Mark G Wilson
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

First-year results of an obesity prevention program at The Dow Chemical Company

Ron Z Goetzel et al. J Occup Environ Med. 2009 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To examine first-year results from a workplace environmental obesity prevention program at The Dow Chemical Company.

Methods: A quasi-experimental cohort study was conducted among employees at nine treatment worksites (n = 8013) who received environmental weight management interventions and three control worksites (n = 2269). Changes in employees' weight, body mass index (BMI), and other health risks were examined using chi2 and t-tests.

Results: After 1 year, a modest treatment effect was observed for weight and BMI largely because the control group subjects gained weight; however, no effect was observed for overweight and obesity prevalence. Other risk factors (tobacco use, high blood pressure, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure values) decreased significantly, although blood glucose (high risk prevalence and values) increased.

Conclusions: Environmental changes to the workplace can achieve modest improvements in employees' health risks, including weight and BMI measures, in 1 year.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Employee participation over time Note: percents represent percent of total eligible employees at baseline
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Task Force on Community Preventive Services Proceedings of the task force meeting: Worksite reviews; 2007.
    1. Must A, Spadano J, Coakley EH, Field AE, Colditz G, Dietz WH. The disease burden associated with overweight and obesity. JAMA. 1999;282:1523–1529. - PubMed
    1. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute [NHLBI] Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: The evidence report. 1998.
    1. Fontaine KR, Redden DT, Wang C, Westfall AO, Allison DB. Years of life lost due to obesity. JAMA. 2003;289:187–193. - PubMed
    1. Knutsson A, Akerstedt T. The healthy-worker effect: Self selection among Swedish workers. Work Stress. 1992;6:163–167.

Publication types