Wellness Program Ideas – Nutrition.
Employees typically enjoy sharing nutritional tips and trying new foods. Sponsor a “nutrition cook-off” and/or healthful potlucks.
o Nutrition cook-off. Teams of personnel set a menu in advance and bring in prepared foods for an official competition. A nutritionist from the health department or local hospital or community serves as the judge.
Dishes and foods are investigated based on both health considerations and taste. Following the event, a cookbook of the teams’ recipes can be developed and distributed to the entire staff.
o Cholesterol Control or “Down Under” Club. People with cholesterol over 200 mg. Are invited to voluntarily participate. The invitation needs to be extended to all staff as the Health Promotion Team won’t have (nor should have) access to individual medical information.
Offer a variety of services to assist in decling cardiac risks. Gordian Health Solutions offers cholesterol management health programs for workforce qualifying by cholesterol score.
If an employee gets cholesterol numbers below 200 in six months, provide an incentive such as a prize to continue progress. Continue to supply information and reminders for continued cholesterol control.
o Label reading contest. Designate a particular food or food category. Employees must find the designated products with the lowest/highest fat content in the supermarket. Give coupons or other prizes for predetermined number of winners or participants.
Or, provide samples of healthier food choices based on label information. Show how these compare to less healthy choices. Display results of the contest in the worker break room or at an worker brown bag event.
Other Health Promotion Program Nutrition Suggestions -
o Give freshly brewed decaffeinated coffee and herbal tea.
o Sponsor a healthy food “bake-off” once a year.
o Give sugar and salt substitutes in the lunchroom.
o At meetings, replace sweet rolls and donuts with bran muffins, wholewheat bagels, or fresh fruit. Consider offering other decaffeinated coffee and herbal teas plus no-sugar fruit juices.
o Serve free popcorn in the break area.
o Create a cookbook featuring healthful recipes contributed by staff members.
o Fruit or veggie of the week (or month). Display an “exotic” fruit or vegetable in your lunchroom and see when peers know what it is. Employees can put their name and the name of the item on an index card.
These could be used to conduct a prize drawing after the week from the cards with the correct answer. To add fun, encourage individuals to put down funny answers when in doubt of the real name of the item.
Read some of those names during the prize drawing, and provide a prize for the most creative name. Divide the fruit or vegetable at the drawing and let those interested taste it. Be sure it can be eaten raw.
Unusual food items like star fruit are now readily available in grocery stores work well for this activity as many people have not tried these kinds of produce.