March Safety Topic: March is National Nutrition Month
Each month, we’re featuring a workplace health and safety topic to inspire your training activities and toolbox talks. March is National Nutrition Month.
Did you know that eating a balanced diet can help employees be healthier and more productive?
The benefits are clear: A 2013 study showed that employees who ate healthily all day long were 25% more likely to have higher job performance! What’s more, eating right can help reduce the risk of costly chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
With that in mind, here are 10 ways employers can participate in National Nutrition Month and promote healthy eating habits in the workplace:
- Share healthy eating messages on your company’s social media accounts or in your newsletter. Download the free NMM social media toolkit for talking points and sample messages.
- Host a “nutrition question of the day” contest on your bulletin board or via email. Draw the name of a daily prize winner from those who gave the correct answer. Suggested prizes: water bottles, t-shirts, gift cards for local grocery stores or healthy restaurants.
- Organize a "healthy recipe" contest among employees. Create a panel of judges from your workplace and award a prize for the winning recipe. You can even compile recipe submissions into an employee cookbook!
- Host a healthy potluck. Ask employees to bring in healthier versions of their favorite potluck dishes if they wish to participate, such as fruit salad, hummus, vegetarian chili, or zucchini muffins.
- Decorate your breakroom or cafeteria with NNM posters or banners. Create a display with NNM handouts, nutrition tip sheets, and recipes.
- Distribute coupons for discounts on a healthy meal in the cafeteria.
- Kick off a fitness challenge.
- Host a "lunch and learn" session on healthy eating. Invite a local dietitian or nutrition expert to speak to your employees.
- Organize a health fair that promotes healthy eating resources and preventive screenings. Insurance companies, local gyms, and health organizations are all great places to start.
- Make sure employees are aware of health and wellness programs available through your insurance. Many insurance providers offer health coaching, nutrition, lifestyle and weight management programs.
Next steps: Download the Free Safety Calendar
In addition to participating in National Nutrition Month and following the tips above, download the free safety calendar to help you plan your toolbox talks and training.