Nutrition coaching can bolster employee productivity. When employees eat right and feel healthy, they are more energetic and less susceptible to illness.
Let’s face it – most people don’t know the ins and outs of good nutrition. While many people have a general idea that a balanced diet heavier on fruits and vegetables is better than a diet of fast food and sweets, things might get a ltttle blurry when it comes to meal planning for specific health goals. Many people don’t have solid knowledge about which combination of foods bolster energy or which foods produce mood spikes. Plus, everyone is bombarded with dozens of myths, fad diets, junk science and sophisticated enticements courtesy of daily advertising and mass media.
In fact, if you ask people whether or not they have a healthy diet, about 75% would say yes, according to an NPR survey conducted last year. The Centers for Disease Control would disagree since 80% of Americans fail to eat the recommended daily amounts of fruit and vegetables and about 36% of US adults are obese. According to the CSPI, unhealthy eating and physical inactivity are leading causes of death in the US, contributing to approximately 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S., due to nutrition- and obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
One of the best ways for someone to improve their eating habits is to work with a nutrition coach to establish a custom plan based on an individual’s unique health situation and personal goals. If your organization has a good wellness program with nutrition coaching, this is a benefit that should be heavily promoted to your employees.
First of all, it’s a great benefit: While one-to-one nutrition coaching can be expensive if purchased privately, your wellness program may offer it at no cost or at reduced cost.
But the advantages of nutrition coaching go well beyond just being a morale booster and a nice benefit: Over time, it can have a positive impact on the overall health and wellness of your workforce, and a healthier workforce just makes good business sense. Nutrition coaching can bolster your workforce productivity. A balanced diet will help employees have better energy and focus. Eating the right mix of foods will also reduce the spikes that can lead to fatigue and mood swings.
Good nutrition coaching can also help minimize absenteeism. Poor nutrition can leave employees more susceptible to colds, flus and other illnesses, while healthy eating can increase physical resilience and shorten recovery time for any illnesses that do occur.
Nutrition coaching can also help employees address specific goals such as weight loss or a custom diet to support a fitness regime. One-to-one sessions can also address health conditions such as diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, heart disease or high blood pressure. For employees who are trying to manage weight, nutrition coaching can also help eliminate the yo-yo diet syndrome by replacing it with a more sustainable plan based on healthier choices.
If your wellness program offers nutrition coaching, why not talk about this great benefit at your next team meeting? Often employers offer wellness programs to employees, but don’t go the extra mile of promoting them. If you have a good benefit, flaunt it! Promoting the availability of nutrition coaching would go a long way to countering the junk science diet advice people are subjected to every day.