Increase in productivity through the improvement of health behavior

It is well known that exercising promotes health. But how can the effects on a company's productivity be measured? Burton and colleagues have been able to demonstrate the positive influence of health behavior on productivity in their recently published study.

They examined 4345 individuals with an average age of 42 regarding their exercise behavior. According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), they classified individuals as "sufficiently active" (with at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week), "insufficiently active" (with less than 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week), and "inactive" (with no physical activity). According to the WHO, those who engage in less than 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week are considered to have a lack of exercise and therefore a significantly increased health risk. In addition to the lack of exercise, the presence of the "metabolic syndrome" was examined. According to the WHO, the criteria for the metabolic syndrome are met when three of the following five risk factors are present: obesity, high blood lipid levels (triglycerides), low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar levels. Consistent with previous studies, the results support the reduction of behavior-related health risks through the improvement of health behavior because: Study participants who did not have metabolic syndrome and were also sufficiently physically active had the best productivity in terms of all four measured productivity indicators (number of absentee days, subjectively perceived performance, costs due to medication and doctor visits). For example, illness-related absenteeism of more than five days per year occurred more than twice as often in individuals with lack of exercise and metabolic syndrome compared to the group without these health risks (17.1% vs. 7.6%). Additionally, the group without health risks reported the best performance and incurred the lowest health costs compared to all other groups. Further data analysis also showed that the productivity losses due to sufficient physical activity were significantly lower, regardless of whether the study participants had metabolic abnormalities or not. Therefore, all employees benefit significantly from an increase in physical activity in terms of their health and professional performance. The study by Burton and colleagues is thus another proof that the often underestimated physical activity significantly increases a company's productivity. For more information on productivity and Dirk Lümkemann, visit: http://www.excellente-unternehmer.de/redner/dirk-luemkemann.html