title: Reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome at the worksite: preliminary experience with an ecological approach.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Given the time spent at work, the workplace represents an ideal setting to implement preventive programs for non-communicable diseases, the major cause of mortality and morbidity in Western and developing countries. We sought to verify if an ecological approach based on corporate culture, employees' education and concrete modifications of workplace environment, offering easy opportunity to assume healthy lifestyle, could be associated with reduced cardiometabolic risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 1089 workers in two multinational companies following different workplace health promotion policies. Company A offered to all employees the opportunity to access a web platform dedicated to general information on health and diseases. Company B implemented an ecological model encompassing company culture, employees' education and concrete modifications of workplace environment, giving to all employees the opportunity to adopt healthy solutions throughout daily living at workplace. Participants volunteered self-reported clinical information using an IT tool. Numbers of Metabolic Syndrome components (MetS) were taken as proxy of cardiometabolic risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MetS probability obtained via statistical modeling was lower in company B as compared to company A, and absenteeism was also lower in company B. Our study shows that a work environment favoring assumption of healthy lifestyle, as in company B, is associated with a lower percentage of employees with MetS components and lower absenteeism. Moreover, statistical modeling shows that individual probabilities of being without MetS elements, controlling for age and gender, is remarkably higher in company B.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that ecological approaches might be useful in worksite prevention policies.
authors: BIOMETRA, University of Milano, Milan, Italy. daniela.lucini@unimi.it.|Sezione Medicina dell'Esercizio e Patologie Funzionali, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Alessandro Manzoni, 56, Rozzano, 20089, Milan, Italy. daniela.lucini@unimi.it.
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Lucini
authors: University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, London, UK.|Technogym Scientific Department, Cesena, Italy.
authors: Silvano
authors: S
authors: Zanuso
authors: Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Solaro
authors: BIOMETRA, University of Milano, Milan, Italy.|Sezione Medicina dell'Esercizio e Patologie Funzionali, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Alessandro Manzoni, 56, Rozzano, 20089, Milan, Italy.
authors: Chiara
authors: C
authors: Vigo
authors: BIOMETRA, University of Milano, Milan, Italy.|Sezione Medicina dell'Esercizio e Patologie Funzionali, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Alessandro Manzoni, 56, Rozzano, 20089, Milan, Italy.
authors: Mara
authors: M
authors: Malacarne
authors: BIOMETRA, University of Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors: Massimo
authors: M
authors: Pagani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D057566:Self Report; D012931:Social Environment; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Exercise medicine; Lifestyle; Metabolic syndrome; Prevention; Workplace