TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5 26 Green Means Go T he overweight and obesity rate in the United States is at an alarm- ingly high 69 percent of the population. In Texas, the percentage is down to 66 percent, but a recent study done by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health showed that 78 percent of Texas Medical Center employees are obese or overweight. Shreela Sharma, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at the UTHealth School of Public Health, and her team conducted the study by screening 780 Texas Medical Center Employees. Upon reviewing the results, they found obesity to be a significant issue among participants. As a result of the study, UTHealth and the Texas Medical Center Health B y B r i t n i N . R i l e y Policy Institute created the TMC O2 (obesity and overweight) challenge: three interventions to reduce over- weight and obesity rates in the Texas Medical Center by 20 percent by the year 2020. The TMC O2 challenge also addresses two categories that are problematic for obese and overweight workers and their employers—excess medical and productivity costs. Productivity costs include time missed for work due to obesity and also time at work that is wasted. "There are different productivity metrics that we have looked at in addition to direct costs of being obese," said Arthur Garson, M.D., director of the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute. "We have seen that obesity rates account for absenteeism and 'presenteeism,' which is defined as being present at work for the day, but being unproductive." According to a study done by The George Washington University School of Public Health and Public Health Policy, the average annual cost for excess medical expenses for over- weight and obese workers is $1,474 per employee. The annual cost for excess medical and productivity costs for overweight and obese employees is $3,763 per employee. That would mean that within the Texas Medical Center, overweight and obese employees cost an additional $118.5 million annually. "After seeing the results of the study, it is clear that we have a problem with obesity in the Texas Medical Center," Sharma said. "Our hope with the TMC O2 challenge is to change those numbers and create a better lifestyle for Texas Medical Center employees." All 56 member institutions of the Texas Medical Center, as well as the Texas Medical Center Corporation itself, are participating. "This is the first time in memory that all the members are working together in a single program," Garson said. "One of the Health Policy Institute's goals is collaboration and this is a wonderful way to achieve that goal." The first intervention of TMC O2 is participation in an evidence-based national diet program. Eleven Texas Medical Center members chose to participate in this program and decided on Weight Watchers and iDiet. Weight Watchers is built around food, support, behavior change and activity tracked by a points system. iDiet is a behavioral program that "retrains" the way your brain thinks about food by controlling five key instincts that drive humans relationship with food: hunger, Arthur "Tim" Garson, M.D., director of the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute, holds salad bar tongs that have been color coded to reflect the "traffic light" calorie counting system. TMC O2 AIMS TO REDUCE OBESITY RATES IN THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER BY ENCOURAGING HEALTHY EATING AND THE OPTION TO PARTICIPATE IN A DIET PROGRAM

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