The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Oct 24, 2007
IBM Corp. will soon launch a wellness program designed to encourage employees to help their children lead healthier lives, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company plans to offer the Children's Health Rebate program as part of its annual benefits enrollment, paying $150 cash rewards to employees whose children complete a 12-week online program promoting sound nutrition and active lifestyles. The interactive Web-based tool helps employees to manage their family's eating and fitness habits and includes a variety of resources such as sample menus, exercise suggestions and nutritional information for popular foods. While the program does not set weight loss targets or fitness requirements, participants can use password-protected, self-paced tracking plans to monitor metrics such as the frequency of family meals or daily fruit and vegetable consumption. The program also recommends activities such as playing active games, preparing dinners as a family or taking family walks.