Workplaces can either help or hurt our efforts to eat well, be active, and improve our health. Here at the Arizona Department of Health Services, we are taking a step forward to make it easier to include healthier options and physical activity in our meetings with a new department-wide Healthy Meeting Policy and a Healthy Meeting Toolkit.
The purpose of these tools is to provide simple guidelines so we lead the way in making the healthy choice the easy choice for our staff and community partners attending meetings or events.
We include just five easy-to-do steps which could be used by any business or organization:
- Offer healthy food options and watch portion sizes
- Keep food safe
- Choose beverages wisely
- Practice smart snacking
- Get moving by being active
I am proud that through the Healthy Arizona Worksites Program, a public health initiative developed in partnership with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, we are promoting evidence-based worksite wellness initiatives. These efforts have been shown to increase productivity as well as reduce costs associated with health care and absenteeism. The Healthy Arizona Worksites Program features our Healthy Meeting Toolkit on their website for businesses throughout Arizona to use as a helpful resource.
