2
FIGHT THE FLU With flu season in full swing, Dr. George Jackson, director of Duke Employee Occupational Health and Wellness, offers tips for preventing flu.
5
N E W S YO U CA N U S E
::
7
HEALTH BENEFITS ENROLLMENT Open Enrollment begins Oct. 19. Insurance premiums will rise in 2010, but plans continue to offer comprehensive coverage.
Vo l u m e 4 , I s s u e 7
::
SUSTAINABLE DUKE Zipcar, the 24/7 car sharing service, has a following at Duke, where six fuel-efficient vehicles are available for onehour and daily loan.
October 2009
Battling the Bulge Meg Wilson, a Duke Career Center marketing specialist, battles obesity. She works out at Wilson Recreation Center on West Campus and has lost 61 pounds over two years.
TO FIGHT OBESITY, DUKE OFFERS A MYRIAD OF EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS
excessive weight and healthcare costs makes finding ways egan Wilson was nearly 80 pounds to manage weight a shared concern for us all.” overweight, but it didn’t worry her. “I thought ‘obese’ was just another label BURDEN OF EXCESS WEIGHT people put on me that I could ignore,” she said. Although scientists have yet to understand how Until her regular physical two years ago. obesity affects the body at the cellular level, data clearly “I felt fabulous when I went in,” said Wilson, show that excess weight puts people at risk for a variety of a marketing specialist at the Duke Career Center. diseases. Many of these diseases require long-term use of “I was running three miles a day, three days a medication and close monitoring to prevent them from week and had just dropped my weight down spiraling out of control. 10 pounds to 226.” For example, pharmacy spending on diabetes, the life Then the doctor told her she had diabetes. style-related disease that costs Duke health plans the most She needed to lose weight to reduce the risk of complications such as blindness, kidney damage, Meg Wilson to care for, was more than $1.2 million in 2008. amputation or diabetic coma. Marketing Specialist Pharmacy costs for hypertension were about $610,000. “Obesity is now the major cause for conditions “It was devastating,” Wilson said. “Suddenly, Duke Career Center such as hypertension, diabetes and abnormal cholesterol, obesity wasn’t just a label. It was a medical all of which put patients at higher risk for heart disease, condition.” the leading killer of adults in the U.S.,” said Laura Wilson isn’t alone. According to data reported Svetkey, a Duke physician specializing in treating high by Duke employees on health risk assessments in blood pressure. “Losing weight significantly reduces the impact of all of the last two years, obesity affects nearly one third of the Duke workforce. these conditions.” This figure mirrors the epidemic of obesity in the state and nation. North Long-term studies reveal that overweight patients can lower their risk Carolina residents considered obese (roughly more than 30 pounds above of diabetes by losing as little as five pounds, and drop their blood pressure normal weight) increased from 16.9 percent in 1995 to 29.5 percent in 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). by up to 10 points by losing 10 pounds. A change to the waistline also helps the wallet. A paper in the July Extra weight drags down the health of Duke’s faculty and staff and 2009 issue of “Health Affairs” estimated people who are obese spend, on pushes up costs. Three of the four illnesses costing Duke employees the most last year were exacerbated by excess weight: diabetes, heart disease and average, about $1,429 more on health care each year than normal weight colleagues, largely because of chronic diseases. high blood pressure. To fight obesity, Duke has invested in health programs With evidence weighing heavily against being overweight, why don’t that encourage employees to make lifestyle changes to lose – and keep off – more people choose to lose? extra weight, and employees are increasingly taking advantage of them. “Because it is hard,” Svetkey said. “Our bodies are hardwired to resist “The data clearly shows that we, as a nation, have gotten bigger,” said losing weight. Information alone is seldom sufficient to inspire people to Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for Human Resources. “And although weight lose weight. Support is vital.” is often considered a private matter, the increasingly obvious link between
M
“
It was devastating. Suddenly, obesity wasn’t just a label. It was a medical condition.”
>> See FIGHTING OBESITY, PAGE 4
2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing 2009, 2007 Bronze Medal, Print Internal Audience Tabloids/Newsletters
This paper consists of 30% recycled post-consumer fiber. Please recycle after reading.