The workplace is perhaps the most obvious place to prevent lifestyle-related diseases

The Danish healthcare system is under financial and staffing pressure, and far-reaching changes are needed, according to the Resilience Commission’s latest report. Strangely enough, prevention does not feature prominently in the report, despite the fact that there is so much to gain in this area. It is, however, encouraging that workplaces can make a significant contribution in this area while also saving money. No one loses out on this—and certainly not the employees.

One new super hospital a year

According to the Danish Health Authority, physical inactivity costs 5.3 billion Danish kroner annually in treatment and care alone. On top of that, there are additional costs of 12.2 billion Danish kroner due to lost productivity. Based on this, the total costs associated with physical inactivity can be estimated at 17.5 billion. For that amount, you could build a new super hospital and hire many thousands of nurses every year.

We know it’s true—but we still don’t do it

Since 1995, the Danish Health Authority has issued minimum recommendations for physical activity, and nearly 30 years later, approximately 6 out of 10 people still do not follow them. The reason is not that people are unaware that physical activity is good for their health.

If public awareness campaigns worked, everyone would be a non-smoker, physically active, eat 600 grams of fruits and vegetables a day, not speed, and so on. Human motivation is a complex matter, and other approaches are needed if we are to reach the remaining 60%—and this is where the workplace can actually make a difference.

The workplace is an ideal setting to promote physical activity and overall health

So what does it take?

Motivation is individual and depends on, for example, how important we consider physical activity to be and whether we believe we can succeed at it. As Lars L. Andersen from the National Research Center for the Working Environment describes in his latest article, the workplace holds enormous potential, partly because employees generally spend half of their waking hours at work, and because they are greatly influenced by the environment, culture, and facilities available to them.

And that is why the workplace has a unique opportunity to make a difference—not only in terms of physical activity, but also in terms of tobacco use, diet, and mental health, which, of course, also impose a heavy financial burden on society every year.

How little exercise can you get away with?

Earlier this year, an article was published in *Nature* showing that just three 1–2-minute “bursts” of high-intensity activity—such as climbing stairs—could reduce mortality by 38–40% among highly inactive adults. When time is limited, intensity must be increased. It should be possible to “nudge” people in this direction at many workplaces.

By Henrik Duer, exercise physiologist – visit my website here.

Thanks to Lars L. Andersen, Professor of Healthy Work Life at the National Research Center for the Working Environment (NFA).