In 2019, the U.S. is more health conscious than ever. Fitbit and other wearables track personal health metrics. Whole Foods has 500 stores. Organic restaurants deliver local farm food. Beds and pillows promise better sleep. Five a.m. yoga classes are the norm. Pharmaceutical ads for depression, anxiety, insomnia and other mental health disorders plaster the evening news shows. Billboards and public service announcements encourage parents to stop giving children sugary snacks. Oregon just passed a law allowing students to take “mental health days.” Headlines such as, “Latest Suicide Data Show the Depth of U.S. Mental Health Crisis” are common. Ninety-two percent of U.S. residents say it’s important to get an annual physical, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and 62 percent report actually getting the exam. It’s estimated about 44 million Americans get physicals ever year.
In the midst of this high health awareness, NIOSH in June reported that “many workers with access to workplace health promotion programs have never participated in any of them.” About 47 percent of U.S. workers have access to health program programs; among those with access only 58 percent participate. That’s roughly one in every four workers.