We're approaching the middle of the summer (for school-age children, anyway) and the July 4 holiday.  It's a time for taking advantage of good weather and doing fun things with friends and family, many involving physical activity, outside.

Unfortunately this atmosphere was marred this week by two items on the health and wellness of Americans, one of which addresses workers specifically:

• Fat in the USA: Obesity Is Rising (BusinessWeek)
• Study: Disturbing trend on employee health (HRMorning)

Of particular note to those in small organizations concerned with implementing effective benefit programs as part of their overall employee engagement practices, the HRMorning article, which summarizes a recent CareerBuilder study, reports that more than four out of 10 workers have gained weight in their current jobs.  No doubt the economy is playing a role here.

But there's some good news here when you put some trends together:

• The Obama Administration is pushing for more investment in health and wellness as part of companies' people practices.  This may spark more players in the provider space and push them to cultivate more employers as clients.
• The SBA says that 99% of all employer firms are small.
• Small businesses are more likely to turn to innovative health and wellness benefits in addition to or – increasingly to cut costs in a tough economy – in lieu of medical insurance coverage to continue to attract and retain top talent.
• Small organizations have less bureaucratic "red tape" and thus can shift their health and wellness programs more quickly based on what works and what doesn't.

We have seen that when you add forward-thinking leadership and an employee engagement culture of ownership to the mix, great things can happen long term.  By this, of course, I mean healthier employees who are more productive at work and miss less of it, and employers that benefit from that as well as lower health care costs.

To conclude, I'd like to share some of the innovative ways that Finalists for our 2009 Top Small Workplaces competition are implementing wellness-based initiatives at their work sites.  Check out this list of related employee engagement best practices:

• Use perks such as gift cards for healthy lifestyle changes, on-site yoga, and use of snowshoes
• Reimbursement of fitness club memberships (one firm does so for up to $500 annually per employee)
• On-site health assessments with follow-up consultations
• Fresh fruit and/or vegetables served once or more per week
• Free (to employees) annual biometric screening
• On the higher-cost side, on-site exercise facilities
• Incorporate health and wellness into personal growth programs that typically address business and personal financial literacy and family life
• Documented healthy activities, on-site and off, make employees eligible for discounts on their insurance contributions
• Form a runners club that's tied to your brand, mission, and values 

How is your organization doing its part to turn your state or national obesity statistics around?