Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a challenge for millions of Americans. Between hectic work schedules, long commutes and juggling family and job responsibilities, most people say they cannot find time to exercise.

In fact, according to a Physical Activity Survey recently conducted by AARP, 50 percent of people age 18 years and older said that lack of time prevents them from being active.

Today, many companies are helping employees integrate healthy lifestyle habits into their workday by offering health and wellness programs such as Weight Watcher groups and by providing safe walking trails to encourage employees to go for walks during the day.

According to health experts, access to wellness programs at work enables employees to make long-term, sustainable health choices.

Dr. Ann-Judith Peterka, medical director of Employee Health Services for Roche in Nutley, NJ, believes that employee-focused health care programs are shaping people's lives from the inside and out.

"Company wellness programs provide employees not only with the tools and resources they need to stay physically fit, but also with education and behavior-modification programs for the often neglected aspects of prevention such as health care decision making and chronic disease management," said Peterka.

Dr. Peterka would know.

She has been the medical director at Roche for more than 10 years and manages a nationally recognized program called Choosing Health, designed to enhance the health and well-being of employees.

With Choosing Health, employees can participate in onsite education sessions on topics like healthy eating, men's and women's health, diabetes and arthritis.

Smoking-cessation classes and a variety of screenings and personalized health-risk assessments also are offered to help employees identify key risk factors and determine actions that will optimize health.

Additionally, an Exercise Reimbursement Program encourages regular exercise by rewarding employees who meet annual participation criteria.

Roche and its employees are seeing results with the help of Choosing Health.

About 40 percent of employees attend onsite screenings and educational sessions. The onsite fitness center is visited about 3,000 times per month and has a membership of about 700 employees. Many employees are reporting lower stress and cholesterol levels and improved eating and exercise habits.

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