You may already know that heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation, heart disease and stroke cost employers around $1 billion per day.

And unfortunately, heart disease is preventable in most cases with relatively simple lifestyle changes.

So that’s why it makes sense for your workplace to support heart health for all your employees.

Here are some things you can do to encourage your employees to live a heart-healthy lifestyle:

1. Make Healthy Eating Interesting

Always ask your employees for ideas that would make healthy eating exciting and engaging for them. Everyone has different ideas as to what this looks like.

One specific suggestion would be hiring a corporate dietician to come into your workplace and work with your employees to create healthy eating programs.

Have employees bring their favorite healthy snacks to work. You could have them do it all one one day, or ask people to volunteer to do it on a specific day individually.

You could also host a catered lunch once monthly. And you might also ask vending machine suppliers to add healthy snack options.

2. Build Exercise into Your Daily Work Routine

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of weekly aerobic exercise at a moderate intensity level.

Offering standing work desks can be a simple way to encourage more movement at your workplace.

You can also plan meet-ups at your local gym before, during, or after work. And you can offer to reimburse your employees for gym memberships to make this easy.

3. Encourage Regular Health Check-Ups

It’s really easy for your employees to put off health screenings…until something goes majorly wrong.

It’s best for your employees’ health, and your own bottom line, that they don’t even get to that point.

So, to make it super-simple for your employees, have on-site biometric screenings done at your workplace.

You can also bring in a nurse to educate your employees about the importance of regular health screenings (the types of problems this catches and associated medical costs this prevents).

4. Spread Awareness

Do your employees know heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States?

Do they know it’s one of the most expensive conditions American workplaces face?

Have your employees wear red to signify heart disease. Have them participate in charity walks or other events.

Keep health professionals coming in and talking about the risks and consequences of heart disease.

Whatever you do – be consistent. Your employees pay attention to what they hear about most.

Do these things and you’ll have healthier, happier, and more productive employees…along with lower medical costs and fewer missed days from work!