First, from the Fort Worth Business Press, Jacqueline Benavidez, a client wellness coordinator at McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP, shares some of her low-cost wellness ideas.

•  Insist that your vendors fill vending machines with healthier choices—your employees may try healthier snacks they had not considered before.
•  Provide fresh fruit and vegetables free or at cost.
•  Organize a WeightWatchers® or similar program at your workplace.
•  Make sure staircases are secure and pleasant to encourage people to take them, and avoid elevators.
•  Sponsor or co-sponsor community health events such as walks, races, or league sports teams.

Then there's the New York State Physical Activity Coalition, which actually offers 101 tips—but we've distilled them down a bit.

Physical Activity

•  Develop walking maps. Measure the distance in halls, around the building, and in the surrounding area for setting walking goals.
•  Encourage employees to walk to a specific location and log individual miles for incentive prizes.
•  Encourage participation in community walks (i.e., heart, cancer, March of Dimes). Consider sponsoring employee participants or matching employee contributions.
•  Encourage managers to hold walking meetings when meeting with a small number of employees.
•  Offer flexible lunch periods/breaks to encourage individual, group or “buddy” walks.
•  Offer incentives for distance parking and for employees who walk or bicycle to work.
•  Conduct an “Avoid the Elevator Campaign.”

•  Suggest that employees stretch for 1 minute before work each day. Announce a 1-minute stretch on the PA system.
•  Start a running club, biking club, in-line skaters club, or line dancing club.
• Encourage employer-sponsored youth athletic teams, along with employee volunteer coaches.
• Have a Goal of the Week or Month (i.e., I will exercise every day for a week). Keep a chart of weekly or monthly exercise goals in the office.
• Negotiate corporate discounts for health club memberships.
• Provide bicycle racks or a fenced-in area for bicycle storage in well-lit section of the property.

Food and Nutrition

• Work with your vending machine company and cafeteria to post calories and nutrient contents and amounts on vending machines, lunchroom tables, etc.
• Celebrate “free fruit day” on which you give away apples.
• Have a homegrown fruit and vegetable exchange.
• Offer reasonable prices on—or subsidize—healthy snacks (i.e., fresh fruit, yogurt), meals and salad bars.
• Request that cafeteria vendors offer low-fat, low-cholesterol, nutritious foods.

• Hold low-fat cooking demonstrations in the cafeteria.
• Change a donut break to a bagel and low-fat topping break at meetings.
• Plan company functions with heart-healthy eating choices in mind.
• Offer information on packing healthful brown bag lunches.
• Hold an employee luncheon for which employees bring a healthful lunch to share, and then share the recipes.
• Have employees bring Crock-Pots® of heart-healthy soup and share with others.
• Develop a support group for weight management.
• Promote “eat your greens” on St. Patrick’s Day.

Stress Management

First of all, remember that exercise and good nutrition are great stress-busters. In addition try these:

• Take stress relief breaks (i.e., meditation, walking, close the door).
• Encourage employees to take time out for themselves.

Smoking Cessation

· Subsidize nicotine patches.Lower health insurance costs for nonsmokers.*
· Give a $50 U.S. Savings Bond to expectant mothers who agree to not smoke and avoid alcohol during pregnancy.*
(*Editor's note: With programs that depend on a health factor, certain requirements must be met to comply with HIPAA.)

In the next issue of the Advisor, we'll share the program support ideas and talk about a new comprehensive wellness program from BLR.