The EU Platform on diet, physical activity and health, launched in March 2005, started on 3 July 2007 an initiative to improve health at the workplace. This initiative, launched at a conference entitled ’Diet, physical activity and health @ workplace’, aims in particular to promote physical activity as well as healthy and balanced food choices for employees.
”The challenge at the workplace is to know how to make the right tools available for both SMEs and big multinationals to promote physical activity and healthy eating,” said the director general of the Commission DG for health and consumer protection Robert Madelin. ”Lifestyle is a challenge that is difficult to communicate,” he added.
According to the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP) workplace health promotion activities should be integrated in the corporate strategy, systems and processes and be supported by an overall corporate strategy. The network argues that workplace health promotion leads to less costs in terms of absenteeism, accidents and diseases as well as to less turnover of employees. Workplace health promotion is also expected to improve company image and position in the labour market and lead to increased productivity.
Asked whether schools can, in this context be considered as childrens’ workplace and what more could be done there, Robert Madelin said that ”schools are more important than workplace”, but that ”it is never too late and never too early. Our big target is those under 12 years of age and workplace.”
He also reminded that introducing more physical activity or education on nutrition in the school curricula is up to member states and pledged for media support for raising awareness and convincing parents to ask for curricula changes.
