Healthy Living Medicine in the Workplace: More Work to Do

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are five of the top ten causes of death for Americans: cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, lower respiratory disease, stroke and diabetes mellitus. Risk factors for these NCDs and for CVD are tobacco use, poor diet quality, physical inactivity, increase body mass index, increased blood pressure, increased blood cholesterol, and glucose intolerance. Depression, depressive symptoms and anxiety also contribute to CVD risk. There is also evidence work stress itself contributes to CVD risk. By 2024 there is expected to be approximately 164 million workers in the US labor force and the share of older workers will likewise increase. Currently, about 25 million of those are over the age of 55, the age at which many diseases of lifestyle become clinically apparent. Furthermore, Americans spend as much as half of their waking hours at work. This makes the worksite an important target for the delivery of healthy living medicine.