by Daniela Yu and Jim Harter

G

In U.S., Engaged Employees ExerciseMore, Eat HealthierMore than half of engaged employees exercise frequently

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- American workers who are engaged in their work and workplace aremore likely to report a healthier lifestyle than their counterparts who are not engaged or whoare actively disengaged. Engaged employees eat healthier, exercise more frequently, andconsume more fruits and vegetables.

These findings are from Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted January throughDecember 2012. Gallup's employee engagement index is based on extensive research onactionable workplace elements with proven linkages to performance outcomes, includingproductivity, customer service, quality, retention, safety, and profit. The 12 questionsincluded in the survey are intended to help sort workers into one of three categories:

WELL-BEINGJanuary 16, 2013

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engaged, not engaged, or actively disengaged.

Engaged employees are deeply involved in and enthusiastic about their work. Those whoare not engaged may be satisfied, but are not emotionally connected to their workplaces andare less likely to put in discretionary effort. Employees who are actively disengaged areemotionally disconnected from their work and workplace and jeopardize their teams'performance.

Gallup research previously found that employee engagement is positively correlated withbetter health -- engaged workers are less likely to be obese and to have chronic diseases.The positive correlation between employee engagement and healthy behaviors holds trueafter controlling for respondents' health conditions and key demographics, such as age,gender, race, income, education, and marital status.

Implications

Gallup research shows that how leaders manage their workers can significantly influencetheir employees' engagement, which in turn affects a company's bottom line and workers'health and wellbeing. Separate Gallup research found that engaged employees were 21%more likely than actively disengaged employees to be involved in wellness programs offeredby their company. This finding is consistent across age, BMI groups (normal, overweight,and obese), and among people with or without chronic diseases.

Taken together, the data showcase the link between being engaged at work and leading ahealthy lifestyle. It is not clear though which way the relationship between engagement in theworkplace and healthy behaviors goes. It is possible that workers without healthy lifestylesare more prone to illness, which then reduces their chance for being engaged at work, orthat those who are actively disengaged are less likely to take part in healthy behaviors,perhaps due to time or a depressed outlook on life.

Regardless, since engaged employees are more likely to lead a healthy lifestyle, workplacesthat actively improve engagement may end up seeing an added benefit of better employeehealth -- the potential benefits of which include reducing healthcare costs for a company inthe long term and increasing energy and productivity in the near future.

About the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index tracks wellbeing in the U.S. and provides best-in-

class solutions for a healthier world. To learn more, please visit well-beingindex.com.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of the Gallup Daily tracking survey January to

December 2012, with a random sample of 353,563 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and

the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit-dial sampling. The survey includes 19,392

unemployed; 14,881 actively disengaged; 43,136 not engaged; and 24,611 engaged respondents.

Maximum expected error ranges for subgroups vary according to size, ranging from ±2.8 percentage points

for the largest group to ±4.9 percentage points for the smallest group.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews

conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each daily sample includes a

minimum quota of 200 cellphone respondents and 800 landline respondents, with additional minimum

quotas among landline respondents for gender within region. Landline respondents are chosen at random

within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.

Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household,

cellphone-only status, cellphone-mostly status, and phone lines. Demographic weighting targets are based

on the March 2011 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized

population living in U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed

design effects for weighting and sample design.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce

error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

For more details on Gallup's polling methodology, visit http://www.gallup.com/.

RELEASE DATE: January 16, 2013

SOURCE: Gallup http://www.gallup.com/poll/159845/engaged-employees-exercise-eat-

healthier.aspx

CONTACT: Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A

+1 202.715.3030

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