Healthful contests for Nebo teachers

SPANISH FORK — Bring on those apples.

Teachers in the Nebo School District now will be even more glad to receive them from students seeking to curry favor as they start a new school year.

After all, eating more healthfully could lead to smaller waists — and fatter pocketbooks.

Nebo's Board of Education this month decided to spend some $30,000 for a Nebo School District Wellness Program, an effort to motivate teachers and other employees of the district to eat better, exercise more and, if applicable, try to stop smoking.

Employees who participate will feel better, said Clark Merkley, Nebo's coordinator of human resources. Absenteeism may also decrease; and ultimately, the $12 million in annual medical insurance claims submitted by Nebo employees could decrease.

Participation in the program is voluntary for the 1,700 employees who are eligible for health insurance.

Participants will have access to www.nebowellness.org, where they can receive tips about healthy living and learn about six contests throughout the year.

One contest, "Brighten Your Smile," will require participants to follow a dental routine. Nebo will give electric toothbrushes to people who successfully follow it.

The district also will encourage participants of another contest to increase the amount of water they drink. And another contest will promote walking. Winners will get pedometers, Merkley said.

The money the district is investing in the program will pay for prizes, the Web site and the fee of Integrated Health and Wellness, the company helping the district facilitate the program.

The company is run by Aaron Hardy, who also works as the wellness coordinator for the Washoe County School District in Nevada. There, more than 90 percent of the 9,000 employees participate in the wellness program. Employees who do not participate pay $40 a month into a wellness fund that is used for pricey contest prizes.

"To me, it's a perfect way to fund a wellness program," Hardy said. "If you think about the big (picture), the healthy individuals in an insurance plan pay for the irresponsible behavior of other members. It's the opposite here."

The Washoe district saves money from less absenteeism. In 2004, Hardy and colleagues documented a 7 percent reduction in medical insurance claims among wellness-program participants.

Members of the Nebo Classified Employees Association are split, however, about the new program. "Most classified employees do not have access to the Internet," said association president Lynette Wyler.

To that argument, Merkley says: "We could make computers available at the schools for people who don't have access (at home,)".

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com