Workplace Health Promotion in Italian University Employees: Effects on Body Composition and Mediterranean Diet...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Public Health
• Nutrition Science

Background:

• Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) is increasingly recognized as vital for employee well-being.
• Universities offer a unique setting for implementing primary prevention strategies.
• The Wellness@Work for UniTo Project (W@W) was initiated to enhance health within the university environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the W@W Project after a 4-month intervention period.
• To assess changes in anthropometric variables, body composition, and Mediterranean diet adherence among university employees.
• To determine the impact of a brief, professionally-guided lifestyle intervention on employee health.

Main Methods:

• The study involved voluntary participation of university employees.
• Baseline assessments (T1) included socio-demographic data, anthropometric measurements, Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis (BIVA) for body composition, and the Medi-Lite questionnaire for Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence.
• Participants received 5-minute lifestyle counseling, with follow-up assessments (T2) after approximately 4 months.

Main Results:

• A total of 479 workers initially participated, with 246 completing the 4-month follow-up.
• Significant improvements were observed in anthropometric variables, body composition, and Mediterranean diet adherence from T1 to T2.
• These positive changes were consistent across both male and female participants.

Conclusions:

• The W@W Project demonstrated the effectiveness of a simple, accessible workplace health promotion intervention.
• The findings suggest that university settings are suitable for implementing primary prevention programs.
• Easy-to-implement WHP initiatives can significantly contribute to improving the overall health of university employees.