The Vitality Programme helps employees better understand their health and lifestyle habits and provides the necessary tools to develop healthier habits, leading to better health in the workplace
There is no doubt that we are living in extraordinary times. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only transformed the way we live our daily lives, but also placed our everyday health and wellbeing firmly in the spotlight.
Thanks to a rise in life expectancy, we are living longer but not necessarily healthier. Some of the most common chronic health conditions affecting us today are linked to behaviour and lifestyle. These lifestyle diseases include the likes of coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, obesity, and hypertension. Recent figures show that heart disease, for example, was one of the leading causes of death in the UK (1)– a trend that has been developing for a number of years. (2)
Evidence suggests that the risk of developing these conditions could be reduced by implementing healthier lifestyle habits. A recent study of over 100,000 people, featured in the British Medical Journal, (3) looked at five healthy lifestyle habits that if adopted would have a positive impact on life expectancy and disease risk. These are: not smoking; maintaining a healthy BMI of between 18.5-24.9; getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day; drinking less than two units (women) or four units (men) of alcohol a week and eating well (a diet score in the top 40% of people in the study). The study found that people who adopted at least four of these healthy habits were likely to live an extra seven to ten years, free of certain chronic health conditions and cancers, compared to those who adopted none.
One key factor that has emerged during the pandemic is the role that people’s age and health risk factors have to play in the risk of developing serious complications due to COVID-19, and in rates of survival among those who contract it. Some factors, such as age, cannot be changed. However, in line with published research, insights from Vitality conclude that the body’s ability to fight the virus and its negative consequences can be impacted significantly by lifestyle factors. It is something that has received significant public exposure from early in the pandemic, when these groups were identified as clinically vulnerable and considered at much higher risk of hospitalisation. The Government subsequently launched a campaign to tackle one risk factor – obesity – as part of its pandemic response. (4) Around two-thirds of UK adults are classed as overweight and the policy paper for the campaign stated that there is ‘consistent evidence’ this group in particular are more likely to suffer complications from the virus. Even the Prime Minister commented on his experience with being overweight and falling seriously ill after…
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