Individuals representing nearly 50 local employers were on hand to learn the results of the Commit to Fit! 6 Weeks to Wellness Challenge, a community-wide business-to-business challenge held for the first time this spring. 6 Weeks to Wellness sought to offer a fun way to practice healthy behaviors in a competitive workplace challenge.
In this wellness challenge, Genesee County businesses and organizations signed up to compete for 6 weeks to determine who could practice the most healthy behaviors relating to physical activity, nutrition, hydration, and more. Participants earned Commit to Fit! Wellness Points by logging onto the Commit to Fit! interactive website, www.commit-2-fit.org – total challenge logins were nearly 20,000 for this challenge alone over a six-week period. Over 5 million Commit to Fit! Wellness Points were earned as businesses competed against one another while supporting co-workers via internal department and facility competitions.
To earn extra points, individuals also participated in Commit to Fit’s free fitness and nutrition classes held weekly throughout the challenge including Zumba, Resistance Bands, and Nutrition Education. On average, over 30 individuals participated in these weekly classes held throughout the challenge as one step towards learning how to live a healthier lifestyle.
Winners were announced in both the Small and Large Business Divisions of the 6 Weeks to Wellness Challenge, as follows:
Small Business Division (Employers with 10-99 employees)
Winners – Highest Average Wellness Points Per Participant
1st Place – Greater Flint Health Coalition
2nd Place – Lacure Elementary
3rd Place – Complete Eye Care
Large Business Division (Employers with 100+ employees)
Winners – Highest Average Wellness Points Per Participant
1st Place – Genesee County Health Department
2nd Place – Genesee County Community Action Resource Department
3rd Place – Advanced Physical Therapy Center
In addition to the business winners, over $2,000 in total cash raffle prizes were awarded to drawing winners along with fitness club memberships to Genesys Athletic Club, Hurley Health & Fitness Center, and the University of Michigan-Flint Recreation Center.
Commit to Fit!’s next business-to-business challenge – Fall 4 Fitness – will begin September 17th. Commit to Fit! and www.commit-2-fit.org resources are available year round, free-of-charge to all Genesee County residents.
With Genesee County’s smoking rate 29% higher than the national average, the Greater Flint Health Coalition (GFHC) has developed the Commit to Fit! “Smoke-Free Business Toolkit” to promote smoke-free environments by helping businesses adopt and implement smoke-free policies and workplaces, resulting in reduced smoking prevalence and better health among County residents. The Toolkit is specifically designed for small and medium sized businesses throughout Genesee County and the City of Flint who are interested in creating a healthier, cleaner, and more efficient workplace via adoption of a smoke-free, campus-wide policy.
So why should local businesses be interested? Adoption of a campus-wide smoke-free policy has proven to benefit employers and employees alike by improving employee health, lowering employer costs for workers’ compensation and medical expenditures (annual cost reductions of up to $1,623 per employee per year), and increasing employee productivity and presenteeism. Studies show that policy change, specifically within a workplace setting, significantly impacts behavior, in this case facilitating a decline in smoking: smoke-free policies demonstrate a 3.8% reduction in smoking prevalence, a reduction in secondhand smoke exposure by 72%, and employees who work in organizations with smoke-free policies are twice as likely to stop smoking compared to those who work in organizations without the policy. Furthermore, research has indicated that smokers who take four, 10-minute breaks a day to smoke actually work one month less per year than workers who don’t take smoking breaks.
The GFHC’s Smoke-free Toolkit emphasizes simple steps for businesses to go smoke-free, and includes a variety of tools making it easy for businesses to adopt smoke-free policies in six months or less by following a step-by-step implementation guide and using additional resources such as a written policy template and customizable smoke-free signage that can be provided to interested businesses and organizations.
The Commit to Fit! Smoke-Free Business Policy Toolkit is available free-of-charge to all businesses and organizations in Genesee County, and builds on local initiatives of the Greater Flint Health Coalition including its County Health Rankings Action Plan and Commit to Fit! campaign, all of which are focused on improving health status and health behaviors among all Genesee County residents.
Several local Genesee County businesses have already adopted smoke-free policies with great success. The Smoke-free Toolkit shares testimonials from a number of these local businesses who have gone smoke-free in recent years.
To view the Smoke-Free Business Toolkit, please click here.
For more information about the Greater Flint Health Coalition or to order a Smoke-Free Business Toolkit, call (810) 232-2228, or email gfhc@flint.org.
