Effectiveness of Nutrition Education and Fitness Tracking in a Large Healthcare Wellness Program

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose was to determine the effectiveness of a ten-month multicomponent employee corporate wellness program on two health-related outcomes: weight loss and step count. Design: Retrospective medical chart review. Setting: Wenatchee Valley Hospital/Clinics. Sample: Healthcare employees (n=1210) were evaluated; 74.2% of the initial population. Intervention: Employees were assigned to either the Healthy Track (HT) or Body Mass Index (BMI) track based on a Health Risk Visit. Measures: Employees in the HT had to achieve a certain step count, while those in the BMI track had to lose a certain number of pounds. Analysis: A variety of statistical analyses were performed including: crosstabulation, Chi-Square test, independent samples tests, Levene’s test, and linear regression. Results: Data showed that employees in the HT who participated in at least one campaign showed a decrease in BMI percentage (p=.000), with greater losses noted in those participating in the nutrition series (p= 0.03). Analysis showed that there was no relationship between the number of steps taken and decrease in BMI percentage for employees in either track (R2 =.000). Conclusion: Corporate wellness programs that offer web-based and in-person support can lead to modest reductions in BMI. This research offers recommendations on how to create a successful corporate wellness program. One noted limitation is that weight was only measured pre- and post-study.