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Incorporating physical activity and healthy eating into an office or other organizational culture pays dividends for participants, according to a UCLA-evaluated study.

A community health project, led by Community Health Councils Inc. (CHC), studied participants of a six-week wellness training program. The program increases fruit and vegetable intake while reducing feelings of sadness and depression, and can even reduce waistlines with the vigorous physical activity.

REACH Project

The 2010 project, named the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH), implemented an organizational wellness intervention developed by the local health department.

"Our goal is to increase life expectancy and improve quality of life for all ages by helping communities support programs that eliminate health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities," said study co-author Lark Galloway-Gilliam, executive director of CHC.

Findings

• Feelings of sadness or depression decreased significantly among 12-week participants, fruit and vegetable intake increased significantly and body mass index decreased marginally, with no significant changes in these measures in the six-week group.

• The numbers of days in which individuals participated in vigorous physical activity increasedsignificantly among six-week participants but not in the 12-week group.

• Attendance and retention rates between the baseline and post-intervention assessment were quite low for the 12-week curriculum, but higher for the six-week offering.

The results were extracted from participants in the 35 organizations in the study. More than 700 staff, members or clients – mostly overweight African-American women – within those organizations completed the 12-week or six-week curriculum.

"Creating a culture of healthy living within an organizational framework requires buy-in by leadership, staff and clientele," said Dr. Antronette K. Yancey, lead author of the study and associate professor of health services at the UCLA School of Public Health. "Both the physical and social environment must change."

Addresses: Community Health Councils Inc., 3731 Stocker Street, Suite 201, Los Angeles, CA 90008; (323) 295-9372. UCLA School of Public Health, 16-035 CHA, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095; (310) 825-6381,