Second-year results of an obesity prevention program at the Dow Chemical Company

Evaluate innovative, evidence-based approaches to organizational/supportive environmental interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of obesity among Dow employees after 2 years of implementation.

A quasi-experimental study design compared outcomes for two levels of intervention intensity with a control group. Propensity scores were used to weight baseline differences between intervention and control subjects. Difference-in-differences methods and multilevel modeling were used to control for individual and site-level confounders.

Intervention participants maintained their weight and body mass index, whereas control participants gained 1.3 pounds and increased their body mass index values by 0.2 over 2 years. Significant differences in blood pressure and cholesterol values were observed when comparing intervention employees with controls. At higher intensity sites, improvements were more pronounced.

Environmental interventions at the workplace can support weight management and risk reduction after 2 years.