North Carolinians need to take better care of their health, especially with rising health care costs. That advice goes for state employees, too. Yesterday, nearly 4,000 state employees gathered at the state fairgrounds for the 2010 State Employees Wellness Expo to learn more about taking charge of their health and keeping the cost of health care down.
More than 100 exhibitors offered health, wellness and safety resources to assist state employees in achieving their personal best. Nutritional information, exercise demonstrations, financial wellness tips and health screenings were just a few of the many services offered to expo attendees.
State employees also had the opportunity to give back. Expo attendees donated 30 pints of blood to the American Red Cross and filled seven collection towers of food for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
The Wellness Expo is just one of the initiatives offered by the Statewide Wellness Program in the Office of State Personnel. The wellness program works with partners across the state to help state employees live well inside and out by raising awareness of such health issues as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. The program’s second pedometer-based Miles for Wellness activity will get underway this fall when teams of employees will compete to arrive at a virtual destination.