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Indiana University Earns Fit-Friendly-Worksite Gold Rating

Last updated on Tuesday, January 19, 2016

(BLOOMINGTON) - The American Heart Association recognized 58 Indiana companies and organizations as Fit-Friendly Worksites for promoting physical activity and health in the workplace during its Fall 2015 application cycle.

New to the list this year is Indiana University with a gold rating. Last Spring, 84 Indiana companies earned Fit-Friendly Worksite recognition for a total of 142 companies during the year. Nationally, the association recognized 2,004 companies during this application cycle.

The Fit-Friendly Companies program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping companies make their employees' health and wellness a priority. The Fit-Friendly Companies Program offers a unique, easy-to-implement opportunity for corporations to increase employees' physical activity, which will help improve their health - and their employers' bottom line.

Fit-Friendly Companies reach Gold level status by implementing various activities and programs to encourage physical activity, nutrition and culture enhancements such as on-site walking routes, healthy food choices in cafeterias and vending machines, annual employee health risk assessments and online tracking tools. Companies that achieve Platinum recognition -- the highest tier -- take the program a step further by measuring the outcomes of their wellness efforts.

American employers are losing an estimated $225.8 billion a year because of healthcare expenses and health-related losses in productivity, and those numbers are rising. Many American adults spend most of their waking hours at sedentary jobs. Their lack of regular physical activity raises their risk for a host of medical problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Employers face $12.7 billion in annual medical expenses due to obesity alone. The American Heart Association is working to change corporate cultures by motivating employees to start walking, which has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity.

For more information about the Fit-Friendly Companies program and how it is helping to improve the health of Americans by focusing on an activity that is convenient, free and easy, visit www.startwalkingnow.org.

Indiana companies designated this cycle as Fit-Friendly include:

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