the secret wellness motivator: friends & family

Transcription

1 the secret wellness motivator: friends & family

2 contents How Positive and Negative Support Impacts Our Wellness Goals....3 Health Starts at Home...5 Getting Personal: Success on the Road to Change...6 Extending Corporate Wellness Beyond the Office...7 Enable Broader Support to Foster Engagement and Results the secret wellness motivator: friends & family

3 the exercise habits of people you know have a positive influence on your own fitness routine. how positive and negative support impacts our wellness goals If you re like most people, you ve tried several times to start a regular exercise program or make significant changes in your diet. For various reasons, however, you ve faltered after weeks or months, and have been frustrated with your ability stay the course. If this sounds familiar, ask yourself: did you have the support of a spouse, partner, other family member or friend on your wellness journey? If not, it could help explain why it was difficult to sustain that initial enthusiasm to positively change your life. There is both bad and good news when it comes to achieving health and wellness goals. The bad news: it is not easy for many people. The good news: there are ways to increase the odds of success. A growing body of research shows that people with a social support network, whether family, friends or an organized group, tend to achieve better health outcomes. Family members, in particular, may be especially important to sustaining health and lifestyle goals. At the same time, definitions of what constitutes a modern family have been changing in America, moving beyond traditional definitions of people related by birth or by marriage who share the same household. Today s definition of family includes a greater array of living arrangements, a broader group of people and larger combinations of people as families. We ve all known since childhood the power of peer influence. We do what our friends and family do. For example, if your best friend always drags you to the pizza joint when you dine out, you re far more likely to indulge in a cheese-laden, carbohydrate-heavy meal than the spinach salad with low-calorie dressing that you originally had in mind. Likewise, if your gym partner tends to lose interest after 20 minutes on the treadmill, it can derail your efforts to stick to your exercise goals, some research has found. Consider this example: a recent study found that people with an obese friend had a whopping 57% greater chance of becoming obese themselves. When someone had a close friend who became overweight, he or she had a 171% greater chance of following suit. 1 friend became obese This is the negative peer influence. Fortunately, there is a bright side. Studies show that social support is a critical component to staying motivated and engaged in your health goals. A 2011 study published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise found that the exercise habits of people you know have a positive influence on your own fitness routine. 2 WHY IT MATTERS Having a support system may be the most important success factor there is. 57% greater chance of becoming obese himself 1 Christakis, N., Fowler, J. The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years, New England Journal of Medicine, Darlow, S., Xu, X. The Influence of Close Others Exercise Habits and Perceived Social Support on Exercise, Psychology of Sport and Exercise,

4 how positive and negative support impacts our wellness goals Research found that married couples who joined health clubs together but worked out separately had a 43% dropout rate during the course of a year. By contrast, those who went to the gym together, regardless of whether they followed a similar exercise routine while at the gym, had a miniscule 6.3% dropout rate. 3 Having that external support, especially when it comes from family, can be a crucial factor in making or breaking your healthy future, as well as influencing the habits of future generations. Health and fitness and how we eat has become part of our lives, because of our kids, First Lady Michelle Obama has been quoted as saying about her family s wellness efforts. We are their primary role models. And if [my girls] see me exercising and thinking about what I m eating, if they see their father, as busy as he is, getting to the gym and playing sports, when they grow up they ll understand that this is a natural part of being an adult. GOING ALONE VS. GOING TOGETHER 43% dropout rate during the course of a year 6.3% dropout rate during the course of a year GYM GYM GYM 3 Wallace, JP., Raglin, JS., Jastremski, CA. Twelve Month Adherence of Adults Who Joined a Fitness Program with a Spouse vs Without a Spouse. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, the secret wellness motivator: friends & family

5 studies show that children whose families frequently eat meals together receive better grades in school and become better adjusted as teenagers. health starts at home Back in the 1960s, the well-known phrase You Are What You Eat became popular in the United States. Today, it should be modified to say You Are What You Eat at Home. Many health experts agree that eating and wellness habits begin when people are young and these behaviors are heavily influenced in the home. When poor diet and nutrition habits begin early, they can be difficult to change and the impact can last for generations. There s perhaps no clearer evidence of this than the obesity epidemic in the United States. The statistics have become all too familiar: More than one-third of U.S. adults and about 17% of children ages 2 to 19 are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States is $147 billion, according to the CDC. 4 Jamie Oliver, the British chef and creator of the television show Food Revolution, has been a leading advocate for the value of changing eating habits among children. While a lot of his efforts have focused on improving the nutritional value of meals served in school cafeterias, Oliver points out that good or poor nutrition for children begins at home. The diminishment of cooking skills and the abundant availability of processed foods helps build poor health habits even before students step into school. In the United Kingdom, Oliver has developed a home cooking skills class for high school students that teach children the practical skills and fundamental food knowledge that they may not get at home. He also stresses the importance of parents taking the time educate their children about fruits and vegetables. Beyond the benefits of increased diet and nutrition, studies show that families who more frequently gather to eat meals together have stronger relationships with one another. In addition, these children receive better grades in school and become better adjusted as teenagers. 5 To be sure, not everyone can count on family or close friends for support toward their health goals. These people may have to find their positive support network elsewhere. 4 Overweight and Obesity, Facts. Centers for Disease Control and Protection, Family Mealtimes Making it a Priority. Rutgers University,

6 how others are leveraging support to achieve their own success: Encouragement from coaches and friends helped me achieve my goals. Patches Loved what the challenges do for my family. Family home-cooked meals and game night :) KimLaRue I did a 5k this year with my girls and it inspired them to do another one. We had never participated in one before. Thanks for inspiring our family! Gramie5 My husband started running with me an awesome feat since he hasn t exercised in years he s a great buddy and keeps me going. TerriT getting personal: success on the road to change People naturally crave community and social interaction, and it makes sense that this instinct would have an impact on health and wellness. There s no need to go it alone. With the addition of a network or community comprised of others striving for the same or similar goals, you re setting yourself up for success. But don t take our word for it. Meet Marcie, the mother of two children who decided to alter her eating habits. PROFILE: No meat, no dairy, no problem. SITUATION: Marcie made the decision to go vegan, but her family members resisted the change. FINDING SUPPORT: After Marcie made her decision to pursue a vegan diet, she soon learned that she could not count on support from her family, as they were not thrilled about joining her on this dietary journey. Fortunately, Marcie s employer provides a network for support that enables online interaction with others who are pursuing similar wellness goals. She found groups or challenges created specifically for vegans and learned tips and gained the motivation to stick to a strict diet regimen, even in difficult circumstances. Marcie found a support network and interactive community that she can access both online and from her smartphone. She credits this support network with being able to more smoothly make the transition to veganism. OUTCOME: To this day Marcie remains happily vegan, and continues to lean on her network of support that she found through the online community. She now shares her learnings with others. + = vegan 6 the secret wellness motivator: friends & family

7 extending corporate wellness beyond the office In recent years, an increasing number of employers have concentrated on health and wellness programs, with a particular focus on how to better engage workers to not only participate in these programs but to sustain their involvement. Employers are concerned about workers who spend too many hours chained to their desks and generally don t take good care of themselves. Stress from long work hours or factors outside the office heightens health risks and unhealthy workers are less productive and engaged, leading to higher health care costs, experts say. Increasingly, employers are looking for what components comprise a successful corporate wellness program, such as: A supportive community made up of coworkers, friends and family who are focused on aligned interests and goals, driving motivation, encouragement and information sharing Creative and fun ways to engage employees, such as custom-designed personal or group challenges to spark healthy competition and further motivate users to attain goals The promotion of accountability and self-efficacy, leading to lasting behavior changes and an increase in self-esteem recognized by others in the community Incentive programs that offer a blend of tangible and non-tangible, financial and non-financial benefits for goals reached and challenges won Traditionally, many employers have offered a fixed set of wellness benefits for employees, such as onsite exercise classes, discounted gym memberships, and access to nutritional information or classes intended to alter poor habits, such as smoking cessation or managing high-blood pressure. Often, employees viewed these programs as insufficiently tailored to meet their individual needs or as more punitive in their intent. Now, employers are finding programs that enable employees to customize their own health and wellness activities help lead to empowerment and sustained engagement. An important way of customizing wellness programs and creating engagement is extending the benefits beyond coworkers and the workplace. Wellness does not end at five o clock. As mentioned above, support systems are the most critical factor to success and research supports the idea that more flexible and individualized wellness programs are more effective if their use is extended to family and friends. A new study from the Health Enhancement Research Organization and Mercer found that employers who offered corporate health programs that included employees spouses achieved twice the amount of employee participation, compared to similar programs that didn t include spouses. 6 employee + partner 2X employee participation rates enable broader support to foster engagement and results Enabling a wider network of support that includes family and friends in addition to coworkers increases the likelihood that employees will be motivated to become healthier individuals. For employers, a high cost to decreased productivity and absenteeism is associated with unhealthy workers. These costs are estimated at roughly $13,000 per hourly employee per year, 7 data that strengthens the case for implementing an effective corporate wellness program. The most successful corporate wellness programs offer the ability to create an effective support system and facilitate positive interaction among family, friends and other supporters focused on similar goals. Driving healthy lifestyle change doesn t have to be boring it can be fun, interactive and can help bring you even closer to your friends and family. 6 Health Management Programs More Successful When Spouses Are Included. Health Enhancement Research Organization and Mercer, Numerof, R., Abrams, M. Healthcare at a Turning Point: A Roadmap for Change,

8 hubbub is a technology-driven wellness solution that uses social circles, the love of the game, a turnkey incentive engine, and the quickest health quiz on the planet to inspire employees to get moving and live healthy. for more information, go to hubbubhealth.com/employers Printed on recycled paper for a healthier planet hub/ hubbub