State Surgeon General’s Worksite Wellness 2013 Recognition

Full-time workers in the U.S. who are overweight or obese and have other chronic health problems miss about 450 million more days of work each year than healthy workers, resulting in an estimated cost of more than $153 billion in lost productivity annually^[i].

Many employers are recognizing their role in creating healthy work environments that make it easier for employees to make healthy choices. Maintaining a healthier workforce can lower direct costs such as insurance premiums and worker’s compensation claims, and positively impact many indirect costs such as absenteeism and worker productivity.

Expanding the role of employers in obesity prevention is an important goal of the Florida Department of Health’s Healthiest Weight Florida Initiative. Healthiest Weight Florida, launched in January of 2013, is a public-private collaboration bringing together state agencies, not for profit organizations, businesses, and entire communities to help Florida's children and adults make choices about healthy eating and active living.

We are proud of the public and private organizations in Florida that supported the principles of Healthiest Weight Florida by implementing, and being recognized for exemplary employee wellness practices.

To show our gratitude to these organizations for the steps they took to make Florida a healthier place to work, the Florida Department of Health was pleased to announce the launch of the State Surgeon General’s Worksite Wellness 2013 Recognition.

Approximately 400 organizations that achieved a third party award or recognition for employee wellness during the 2013 calendar year received a letter and certificate from the Department of Health to acknowledge and thank them for the steps they took to make Florida the healthiest state in the nation.