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Obesity and Overweight

Updated 10/23/08

Why Employers Care

Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, and the prevalence of obesity in children has tripled since 1980. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. The cost of obesity to private employers is conservatively estimated at $13B per year.¹ Obesity and overweight are responsible for an estimated 27% of annual trend in medical premiums paid by private employers.²

Addressing obesity in the workplace may mitigate the detrimental effects of diagnosed diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease on an employee's health, reduce the overall health care costs borne largely by the employer, and positively impact the employee's work-related and personal life.

What Can Employers Do?

Employers can work with their health plans and other partners to be sure that overweight and obesity are included in health education and communications, plan design, coaching and health improvement programs, as well as disease management and disability/return to work. In addition, employers should take all possible actions to ensure the culture and environment at work promote healthy weight by encouraging physical activity, offering healthy food, and establishing social norms around healthful behaviors.

A culture of health is reinforced by:

requiring employees to take personal responsibility for their health and, for example, using incentives to promote available health promotion resources and programs;
providing an environment that supports and values health (e.g. facilities that encourage walking and other physical activity and healthy eating), and
leading by example, when corporate and site leaders demonstrate their own personal commitment to healthy lifestyles

All Business Group Obesity and Overweight Resources/Publications

This link will take you to a chronological list of Business Group resources that are related to this topic. For additional search options please visit Publications. Most resources are available only to members of the National Business Group on Health and are designated with

Solutions Online

Physical activity

Other Obesity and Overweight Resources

¹ Thompson D et al, Estimated economic costs of obesity to U.S. business, Am J Health Promot, 1998 Nov-Dec;12(2):120-7

² Thorpe K et al, The impact of obesity on rising medical spending, Health Affairs Web Exclusive, Oct. 20, 2004

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