Several Dubois County companies listed as American Heart Association Fit-Friendly
Four Dubois County companies were included in a list of 15 Southwestern Indiana companies that have been recognized as Fit-Friendly by the American Heart Association.
These companies are recognized for promoting physical activity and health in the workplace (14 were recognized for the first time through a joint collaboration with the Healthy Communities Partnership of Southwest Indiana.)
Nationally, the association recognized 1,802 companies during this application cycle with awards being presented locally over the next few weeks.
The Fit-Friendly Companies program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping companies make their employees’ health and wellness a priority. The Fit-Friendly Companies Program offers a unique, easy-to-implement opportunity for corporations to increase employees’ physical activity, which will help improve their health – and their employers’ bottom line.
Even people who haven’t exercised regularly until middle age can reap significant benefits by starting a walking program. A study published in 1986 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that some adults may gain two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise they performed.
Southwest Indiana companies designated this cycle as Fit-Friendly include:
- OFS Brands (New) Huntingburg Gold
- DuBois Wood Products (New) Huntingburg Gold
- Jasper Rubber Products (New) Jasper Gold
- Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center (New) Jasper Gold
- Ivy Tech Community College (New) Evansville Gold
- Mulzer Crushed Stone (New) Tell City Gold
- Deaconess Health System Evansville Platinum & Worksite Innovation
- Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. (New) Evansville Gold
- Saint Meinrad Archabbey (New) St. Meinrad Gold
- St. Mary’s (New) Evansville Gold
- Toyota Motor Manufacturing (New) Princeton Platinum
- University of Southern Indiana (New) Evansville Gold
- Vectren Evansville Platinum
- Welborn Baptist Foundation (New) Evansville Gold
- YMCA of Southwestern Indiana (New) Evansville Platinum
Fit-Friendly Companies reach Gold level status by implementing various activities and programs to encourage physical activity, nutrition and culture enhancements such as on-site walking routes, healthy food choices in cafeterias and vending machines, annual employee health risk assessments and online tracking tools. Companies that achieve Platinum recognition — the highest tier — take the program a step further by measuring the outcomes of their wellness efforts.
According to the American Heart Association, companies can save up to $15 for every $1 spent on health and wellness within 12 to18 months of implementing a worksite wellness program. Each employee who works to lower their risk status saves their company an estimated $53 per year; these savings remain each year that employee maintains the low-risk level.
American employers are losing an estimated $225.8 billion a year because of healthcare expenses and health-related losses in productivity, and those numbers are rising. Many American adults spend most of their waking hours at sedentary jobs. Their lack of regular physical activity raises their risk for a host of medical problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Employers face $12.7 billion in annual medical expenses due to obesity alone.
