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OKLAHOMA CITY – The numbers don’t lie. More than 62 percent of
Oklahomans are overweight or obese, just 3 percent below the national
average .
The workplace is feeling the effects of obesity, as the cost of health care for overweight employees is putting a strain on corporate budgets. “Being obese definitely affects the bottom line,” said Dr. Michael Steelman, an Oklahoma City bariatrician. “Often there is an increase in absenteeism because of related health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes and low back pain, as well as a decrease in mental and physical energy, which affects productively,” said Steelman. A person who is 50 to 100 pounds over an ideal weight for body frame and size is considered obese, Steelman said. And those extra pounds not only contribute to diseases such as diabetes, he said, but also can raise the risk of stroke, arthritis and cancer of the breast and uterus. Area employers are building fitness centers, offering wellness centers and creating cafeteria plans that allow the use of tax-deferred benefit funds for wellness. Employees of companies such as the Morrison Group of Oklahoma City are supported in their efforts to make lifestyle changes. Owner Dan Morrison is working with The Steelman Clinic to develop an employee weight-loss program. Having fit, healthy employees impacts the bottom line by saving on health-care costs, Steelman said. The Morrison Group, a metro-area developer of branded coffee programs for convenience stores, is planning to kick off a companywide weight-loss team competition this fall. Morrison has enlisted Steelman and said he plans to help pay for this program for employees who want to lose weight. Insurance companies are resistant to pay for weight-loss programs or for surgery when patients haven’t undergone a medically supervised weight-loss program. He estimates spending about $15,000 in providing employees access to the program. “This will be a drop in the bucket compared to health insurance payments,” he said. Morrison and wife, Diana, are leading their 40 employees by example. He has shed 53 pounds and Diana, who serves as the company’s human resources director, has lost 30. Morrison said the lifestyle changes they have made are now a way of life. “While not easy to correct, it is pretty simple to understand where the extra pounds came from,” he said. “I enjoyed eating and was not as active as I have been in the past.” Steelman predicts workplace programs will become more common because companies are tuning in to the idea of wellness. This awareness is due in part to the huge increase in what they are paying for employees who are not well due to obesity and its related health issues. “Behavior modification is what weight loss is all about,” he said. “Concepts like these company programs are the wave of the future when it comes to obesity management. Treatment can, and will, extend to the workplace and to the schools as well.” In like fashion, more than 15 of longtime OKC metro Realtor Marolyn Pryor’s associates signed on to lose weight after she dropped 45 pounds earlier this year. “I think a lot of my employees thought, ‘If Marolyn can do it, so can I,’” said Pryor. “The associates who work for me are all good friends. They’d tried other weight-loss programs and saw that I lost the weight pretty quick.” Pryor was facing an impending knee replacement surgery and said she needed to be lighter in order for the surgery to be successful. So, the 67-year-old changed her eating habits and incorporated more exercise into her daily routine, all under the medical supervision. Pryor said she doesn’t know the direct impact her weight loss has had on her business. But, she figures her renewed energy enables her to work longer hours serving her clients and her 170 employees. Her life is busy, as she owns five offices in the metro area: Moore, Yukon, Mustang, Tuttle and Oklahoma City. “Everybody gets a lift when they see people successfully losing weight, looking better and feeling happy.” Stress and irregular working hours had become a way of life for Edmond Memorial High School Principal Kyle Heath. His way of dealing with the overload was food. “Like with any job, there is stress,” Heath said. “It is how you deal with it, and I used food while losing focus of taking care of me.” Heath began his quest Aug. 8 of last year, weighing 289 pounds and reached his goal weight of 204 by last December. Now, he maintains that weight within in a 10-pound range. A former football player and coach, Heath quit snacking entirely and consumes 20 grams or less of carbohydrates a day. “I can’t tell you the difference,” he said. “It’s not about how you look but how you feel – psychologically, emotionally and physically. When I looked in the mirror, I did not see fat.” Heath, 42, said he was looking at a lifetime of taking medication, including a high blood pressure prescription. Now, he exercises regularly and unintentionally has inspired his school friends and colleagues to adopt healthy lifestyles as well. “It’s been fun to see others do the same,” he said. “We are all on common ground and serve as boosters for each other.”
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