Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 21, 1994                   TAG: 9408200014
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: F-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MARY ETHRIDGE KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: AKRON, OHIO                                LENGTH: Medium

FITNESS PROGRAMS GETTING FLABBY

That's the idea behind fitness promotion in the workplace. Get those endorphins cranking through exercise and a healthy lifestyle, studies show, and you're likely to be a more productive, less expensive employee.

Nice as the idea may be, however, it has fallen victim in recent years to downsizing in corporate America.

Harry Barney, a corporate fitness expert and professor at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, said he's seen many companies cut programs since the recession of 1992.

``Companies give a lot of lip service to fitness, but it's one of the first things to go when budgets get tight,'' Barney said. ``You can get a shortsighted CEO who wants immediate results, and fitness is a slow payoff.''

Laura Adams, head of fitness for Progressive Insurance Cos. in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, agrees.

``Fitness programs really took a downturn during the 1992 recession. People were concentrating on the bottom line and looking for quick places to cut,'' she said.

The University of Michigan Fitness Research Center and several corporate studies recently solidified a long-held suspicion among fitness experts: There can be a big payoff for companies that promote health - as much as $3 for every $1 spent.

The university studied Michigan-based Steelcase Corp. and found that medical claims for those who participated in a corporate fitness program were 55 percent lower than nonparticipants over 10 years. The mean cost for an inactive employee was $870 for medical claims vs. $479 for active employees.

General Mills, the food giant, found over five years that absenteeism among employees in its fitness program dropped 19 percent, while that for nonparticipants rose nearly 70 percent.

``It's been shown over and over again that fit employees are absent less, do more work and are happier in their jobs,'' said Sandra Norton, a spokeswoman for Body Sculpting, a Hudson, Ohio-based group that brings fitness programs to businesses throughout the region. ``What employer wouldn't want that?''

Barney of the University of Connecticut said that, when programs are cut, employee morale and productivity drop.

``Not only does it make it harder for employees to stay fit, they have to wonder if the company cares about them and their well-being,'' Barney said.