On a typical workday, University of Rhode Island wellness specialist Anne Marie Connolly said the school’s grounds and facilities employees are on the job from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The schedule leaves the crews responsible for their respective family dinners – meals that often consist of buckets of KFC and Taco Bell.
Still, it came as a surprise to Connolly that in a recent employee survey, the members of the largely male staff said they would like some type of cooking class offered to them.
The response plays into part of a larger trend within the state that Connolly has been working on – one that promotes healthy eating in the workplace as well as beyond the time sheet.
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Serving as the state’s wellness director, Connolly said promoting healthy eating is one of the cornerstones of Rhode Island’s wellness initiative, Get Fit, Rhode Island. Through her work, the efforts of the state’s 25 designated “wellness champions” and the initiatives of private-sector employers, Connolly said workplaces have begun moving to an environment of healthy diets.
Vending machines have become a prime target in the battle, she said.
At places like Eleanor Slater Hospital in Cranston, granola bars and potato chips with no trans fat have begun replacing candy bars.
Other places of employment have begun offering water instead of soda.
Around the holiday season, cookies and candies come under scrutiny, as well.
“A lot of people are starting to say, ‘Skip the cookies,’ ” Connolly said.
The key to the initiative is to break habits. And it comes down to healthy snacking and “brown bag alternatives” for employees who bring a lunch to work, she said.
Part of the change, Connolly said, is because of demand.
At URI, employees in general have been looking for a healthy alternative, she said. And just like so many others in the state, they may soon be getting it, as the university plans to build a new dining hall on campus.
In addition, Connolly has been meeting with university officials to help employees have healthy alternatives to replace the fast food they have been taking home to their families.
At the same time, the initiative has popularity among employers because of how it can affect work.
Joanna Williams, the designated “wellness champion” for the R.I. Department of Health, said that programs designed at promoting healthy lifestyles can benefit the workplace as a whole. With an improved, healthier diet, employees are likely to be more productive.
Additionally, employers can cut down on absenteeism and “presenteeism” – a word Williams used to describe people who show up for work but aren’t particularly productive.
“It benefits the employer, but just as importantly, it helps the individual,” Williams said.
Agencies throughout the state have taken the steps to promote healthy eating among employees.
In the state’s Department of Administration, wellness champion Sharon Savicki said in an e-mail that the department is currently offering its third on-site Weight Watchers program, with 25 people enrolled.
On Thursday mornings throughout the growing season, the department has a farmers’ market in front of the building to promote healthy choices of fruits and vegetables, she said. The in-house cafeteria at the department also offers healthy choices.
The department also is participating in a Brown University survey program for better nutrition in 2006, Savicki said.
The R.I. Department of Business Regulation also has tried creative ways to promote healthy eating in the workplace, said Director A. Michael Marques, one of which – “Good Food/Bad Food Day” – was successful in making employees aware of the differences between healthy and unhealthy foods. During the lunchtime event, employees were shown the nutritional differences between foods such as doughnuts and salads.
Marques, who also has allowed the department’s employees to dress down an additional day to promote exercise, said the goal of the initiative is to influence the people who may be interested in being healthy, but are in need of an extra push.
On a personal level, Marques can relate to the need to live healthy. Before working for the state, he said weight gains and health concerns made him decide to change his lifestyle.
“I don’t want to spend my retirement in a doctor’s office,” Marques said. “After working all these years, you want to be able to go out and enjoy life.”
