Are Office Gyms Worth it?

Today I'd like to talk about Office Gyms. 

The Office Gym has been a subject of heated conversation between business owners of late and Clinical Health Appraisals would like to weight in.  First of all, many employers think that office gyms are too much of an expense to make available to their employees.  They think it would be much easier and cheaper to offer gym memberships or on-site testing clinics to their employees.  While these options are good, the current Wellness Employee Trends Study of 2012-a survey provided to employees through Healthiest Employers LLC-found that employees much prefer on-site exercise facilities to on-site clinics or nurses.  The survey also found that most employees are greatly interested in improving their exercise and nutrition habits over such programs as smoking cessation.  Exercise and overall-heath also ranked in the top two slots as the  most important health-related topics employees were concerned with.  Overall, the survey shows that employees are concerned with fitness and overall bodily health and not as concerned with targeted programs as smoking cessation and diabetes management.  So what do we do with this information?  Many employees that participated in the study expressed a desire for on-site exercise facilities and for good reason.  One, if an on-site facility is provided, they don't have to compete with the public for their favorite machines and often feel more comfortable exercising in a small facility than in a mega-gym with hundreds of other people-some of whom like to stare awkwardly at you until you get off "their" machine.  Two, if they can fit in exercise during their lunch hour or right before or after work, they don't have to spend the time and gas to go out of their way to another facility-something that is incredibly important to the increasingly busier employee.  Three, an on-site facility has added tax benefits to the employers.  Until the Workforce Health Improvement Program Act gets passed in Congress-it has died every year since 2007 when it was introduced-an employer cannot deduct the cost of off-site gym memberships like it can the cost of setting up on on-site facility.  If an employer only offers off-site gym memberships, they may have to pay employment taxes as the membership is considered a fringe benefit and they must add it to the employees' W-2 as income.  If the Act gets passed, employers will be able to deduct both on and off-site gym memberships without including them as income.  Until that happens however, the best way to go is with an on-site facility.  Especially if the company already has an unused space that can be converted into a small gym, cost of facility instillation can quickly be overshadowed by the benefit of having healthier, happier employees. 

Thanks you reading and have a healthy, happy week!

Links to the 2012 Wellness Employee Trends Study-you will have to log in:
https://www.research.net/s/HealthiestEmployersProfile?utm_source=Promo-Profile-0313&utm_campaign=Update+Profile+Email&utm_medium=email
Link to the Lynchburg Business Magazine's article-Office Gyms: The Benefits, the Legalities
http://www.lynchburgbusinessmag.com/mag/office-gyms-the-benefits-the-legalities/

The Bacteria we should LOVE!

When we mention bacteria in a conversation, they are usually in conjunction with whatever disease we are currently suffering from.  We desperately try to kill all the bacteria in our immediate presence with antibacterial wipes, hand gel, and antibiotic medications.  What we are finally realizing however, is that the bacteria that we thought were oh so bad, are not only good for us, they might actually contribute to a healthy immune system and weight regulation.  According to the latest counts, we have about 10 to 1 bacterial cells and microbes to our human cells living in and on our bodies.  That's trillions of tiny symbionts! These tiny critters make up what is known as the human microbiome and what we are finally realizing is that they are as important to our health as any exercise or diet regime.  We are born sterile creatures, completely pure.  We start to acquire microbes when we pass through the birth canal during birth and then continue to add to our collection through breastfeeding, handling by parents, siblings, grandparents, and from every surface in our environment.  By the time we are 1, we have one of the most complex micro ecosystems on the planet living in and on our tissues.  Scientists finished mapping the human genome- which consists of roughly 20,000-25,000 genes-in 2003, and now groups in the US and in Europe have decided to map the human microbiome.    In 2010 the European group announced they had completed a census of the 3.3 million bacterial genes that inhabit our digestive system.  That is 150 times more genes than humans have in their entire genome!  And that's just the gut bacteria!  Needless to say, we are discovering new and exciting details about the bacteria that co-habitate with us everyday.  So what is a "good" bacteria and why should I be concerned?  Since 1980, scientists have developed the idea that bacteria have some key to our health.  When they discovered that the vitamin B12-which we need to regulate cellular energy production, DNA synthesis, and fatty acid synthesis-is only produced by a gut bacteria, they were shocked!  We cannot make it ourselves?! That's ridiculous, we are the most complex organisms on the planet, capable of anything! Well lately, scientists have discovered that certain bacteria can also aid in developing our immune system, respiratory system, and maintain a healthy weight.  Long story short, we need our bacteria!  Case in point is a bacteria called Bacteroides fragilis that lives in 70-80% of humans that helps boost the anti-inflammatory branch of the immune system and thus, regulates its function.  According to a 2010 study, rats grown in a sterile environment without B. fragilis grew up with dysfunctional, overactive immune systems.  When B. fragilis was introduced back into their environments, their immune systems regulated themselves and returned to a normal status.  Unfortunately, B. fragilis as well as several other bacteria are disappearing from our microbiomes as a result of the changes we have made in our lifestyles in the last century.  Greater use of antibiotics, consumption of more processed foods, even cleaner drinking water are changing the make-up of our microbiomes.  So why should we be concerned?  Because if B. fragilis  disappears completely, we will likely see an increase in autoimmune disorders such as Crohn's disease, Type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.  However, this is only a hypothesis and the correlation between changing human microbiomes and increased incidence of human disease and obesity is just a correlation at this point.  What we do know, is that the very delicate balance of microbes in our system is being changed by the lifestyle choices we make.  Next time you pop an antibiotic for a minor irritation or sanitize your hands for the 10th time in an hour, or eat some processed food out of a bag or box, think to yourself-do I really need this? Or am I taking the easy way out?  What you are putting in your body has very real effects on the populations of bacteria living within us and if we aren't careful-we risk losing our best friends in the world, our friendly bacteria, forever.