NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 8, 2012

Contact: Ali Wimer (267.295.3859 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Employee Health and Fitness Month Reveals Health Status of Employees in Southeastern Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – In recognition of May as Employee Health and Fitness Month, Public Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Data Base (CHDB) released findings about the wellbeing of employees in Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA). CHDB’s 2010 SEPA Household Health Survey, a random digit dial telephone survey of more than 10,000 households in the five-county region of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties, examined demographic characteristics of the region’s adult workforce (18 years of age and older) and looked at disparities between full- and part-time workers across the region. Although employee health and fitness traditionally focus on diet, weight status and personal health behavior, CHDB also surveyed differences between employment groups, particularly part-time and full-time workers.  Additionally, the survey asked employees about issues related to the utilization of health care and any cost barriers to care.

“Our findings showed that discrepancies between part-time and full-time workers exist across many health indicators,” says CHDB research associate Nicole Dreisbach. “We found that part-time workers are more likely to be uninsured, more likely to be sick but unable to seek care due to cost, more likely not to fill a prescription due to cost, and more likely not to seek dental care due to cost.”  In addition, the study found that part-time workers are more likely to have been diagnosed with a mental health condition than full-time workers. However, full-time workers are less likely to exercise at least three days per week and more likely to be overweight or obese than part-time workers.

The CHDB survey found that the composition of the two employment groups in SEPA differs across demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Males make up a slight majority of full-time workers (54.0%), while women make up two-thirds (67.0%) of part-time workers. Additionally, the data showed that approximately sixteen percent of all workers live below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) [1]. While 11.7% of full-time workers live below 200% of the FPL, more than 2.5 times as many part-time workers (32.0%) live below 200% of the FPL.

Health Care Utilization and Cost Barriers

The CHDB survey found the following differences between SEPA part-time and full-time workers related to health care access and barriers:

Approximately 146,400 (8.3%) employees in SEPA do not have medical insurance. More than twice as many part-time workers do not have medical insurance than full-time workers (15.5% versus 6.5%, respectively).

Additionally, 9.0% percent of part-time workers have been uninsured at some point in the year prior to the survey compared with 5.4% of full-time workers.

Nearly one-fifth (18.2%) of part-time workers have been sick but unable to seek care due to cost, while this was the case for 9.6% of full-time workers.

Similarly, two in ten part-time workers (20.1%) did not fill a prescription due to cost, compared with 12.7% of full-time workers.

Nearly three in ten (28.9%) part-time workers did not receive dental care due to cost, compared with 20.8% of full-time workers.

Health Disparities between Employment Groups

In addition to issues around access to health, the data also showed differences in health indicators between the two employment groups:

Full-time workers are more likely to be overweight or obese (63.2%) compared with 51.9% of part-time workers[2].

Two-thirds of part-time workers (66.8%) exercise at least three days per week, compared with 62.5% of full-time workers.

Approximately one in six (15.2%) part-time workers has been diagnosed with a mental health condition, compared with one-tenth (10.1%) of full-time workers.

“Our findings suggest that employers should aim to implement programs that ensure workers have access to services that maintain and improve their health and well-being,” says Dreisbach. As workplaces across SEPA celebrate Employee Health and Fitness Month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasize the benefits of workplace health programs that involve strategies to help address the health and safety needs of employees[3]. Additionally, Healthy People 2020 encourages employers to improve employee wellness by “[increasing] the proportion of worksites that offer nutrition or weight management counseling[4].”

For more information on Employee Health & Fitness Month, visit the National Association for Health and Fitness website at http://www.physicalfitness.org/. For more information about the findings presented in this article, please contact Nicole Dreisbach at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About CHDB

Public Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Data Base Household Health Survey is one of the largest regional health surveys in the country. The Pew Charitable Trusts, William Penn Foundation, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, United Way of North Penn, CIGNA Foundation, Green Tree Community Health Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, North Penn Community Health Foundation, the Thomas Scattergood Foundation and over 350 local agencies from the health, government, nonprofit and academic sectors help to support CHDB. To view previous data news releases, please click here. For more information, or to access key findings from previous years, please visit www.chdbdata.org.

About PHMC

Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities. PHMC uses best practices to improve community health through direct service, partnership, innovation, policy, research, technical assistance and a prepared workforce.  PHMC has served the region since 1972. For more information on PHMC, visit www.phmc.org.

[1] Poverty level is calculated based on family size and income. For example, a family of four with an annual income of less than $47,400 in 2011 was considered living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

[2] Weight status is calculated using respondents’ height and weight to obtain a BMI score. Overweight is defined as a score between 25 and 29, while obese is defined as having a score of 30 or greater on the BMI scale.

[3] National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Division of Population Health. Atlanta, GA. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/model/index.html

[4] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy People 2020. Washington, DC. Available at http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/objectiveslist.aspx?topicId=29.