Nutrition Programs, Health Benefits, MA

Good Health BENEFIT

The Challenge: Changing unhealthy eating habits

Eating a well-balanced diet is the key to maintaining a healthy weight and preventing chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and even certain cancers. Unfortunately, many U.S. adults eat more fatty foods than they should, and fewer fruits and vegetables than they need. In fact, roughly 66 percent of adults consume more than the recommended daily allowance of fat in their diet, but only 25 percent eat the recommended number of daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

The Solution: Nutrition 101

Changing eating habits can be a challenge, especially during the workday when healthy choices often take a backseat to convenience. That's why Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) offers Nutrition 101 to employers receiving the Good Health Benefit (GHB) work site wellness service.

Nutrition 101 is broken up into these three workshops:

Nutrition 101: Portions - This 60-minute class teaches participants the importance of healthy serving sizes for controlling their nutrition intake, and offers guidance on how to understand food labels and the approved dietary guidelines.

Nutrition 101: On the Run - This 45-minute class helps guide participants toward better (healthier) decision making when dining out at restaurants and fast-food places.

Nutrition 101: Shopping - This 45-minute class offers tips on which "zones" of the supermarket offer products that provide the best nutritional value. After all, you can't make a healthy meal without healthy ingredients.

To ensure optimal learning and interaction, each workshop is limited to a maximum enrollment of 30 participants. If more than 30 people register, additional sessions will be scheduled. For worksites with limited scheduling flexibility, the Nutrition 101: Stop-by session provides a convenient alternative. This session allows participants to have a brief discussion with a GHB Health Educator on many of the dietary topics covered at length in the three program workshops.

Options that work for you

To meet the diverse needs of employers, the Nutrition 101 series can be offered in two formats:

1. Your organization can offer one, two, or all three of the workshops listed above, in the order of your preference, with participants registering for the session(s) of their choice; or
2. Nutrition 101 can be delivered as a series, in which the three workshops will be offered in the sequence in which they appear above.

In both formats, the Nutrition 101: Stop-by is treated as a separate program. Your GBH Account Manager will work with you to determine which method is right for your organization.

Results you can count on

Nutrition 101 is supported by a comprehensive evaluation process, which tracks outcomes related to lifestyle modifications and other measures such as participant satisfaction, health knowledge, health risk reduction, and health outcomes. After Nutrition 101 is implemented at your work site, your GHB Account Manager will report on the results for your group. Here are some of the participant evaluation highlights from work sites that offer Nutrition 101:

• 98 percent are confident they can identify appropriate serving sizes of food
• 97 percent understand how to read the nutrition facts labels on food, and are confident they can make healthier food choices when shopping
• 95 percent are confident they can make changes to lower fat and calories when eating out

Getting Started is Easy

Research shows that healthy lifestyle programs delivered at the work site can have a significant impact on employees' eating habits, and thereby benefit their long-term health. To learn more about Nutrition 101 and other work site wellness programs and services available through GHB, please contact your GHB Account Manager or your BCBSRI Sales Representative.