1. Employers should encourage healthy eating among staff by:

• implementing the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommendations for obesity in the workplace (NICE CG43) [2]

• ensuring that healthy food is available in the workplace at affordable or subsidised prices

• encouraging nutritional labelling to allow employees to make informed food choices

• setting strict nutritional criteria as part of procurement contracts for food made available in food outlets and vending machines.

2. Employers should encourage physical activity by:

• signposting to and encouraging the use of walking and cycling routes and stairs, including the provision of safe cycle storage areas

• recommending the use of active travel methods to and from work, and provision of changing room facilities

• working with local authorities to enhance access to health services by public transport

• considering the use of staff incentives such as discounted membership of fitness clubs.

3. Employers should encourage healthy behaviour change by:

• developing a strategy for staff health and wellbeing

• encouraging staff to take regular breaks to move around as well as sufficient time to eat well

• using innovative ways to encourage lifestyle change amongst staff, e.g. intranet messages on health, and signposting local activity/weight management opportunities

• using staff training as an opportunity to ensure that leaders are aware of the importance of encouraging proactive approaches to staff health

• enabling equitable staff access to a range of weight management and activity options, by commissioning weight management services which have proven effectiveness.

4. Occupational health departments have a responsibility to diagnose overweight and obesity in new employees, and wherever employees make health contacts (eg winter influenza vaccination) to communicate the health benefits of weight loss, and signpost obese employees either to ‘in-house’ or community-based services. Occupational health services could contribute to the monitoring of those engaged in weight management programmes by providing weighing facilities and information on healthy eating and activity opportunities within and outside the workplace. 

Cost-effective interventions to reduce obesity in the UK