SINGAPORE: The Health Promotion Board (HPB) on Friday unveiled Singapore’s first healthy workplace ecosystem at Mapletree Business City (MBC).
This is part of the Healthy Living Master Plan that kicked off eight months ago, which aims to ensure that all Singaporeans have better access to an affordable, healthy lifestyle.
A National Health Survey in 2010 showed that less than 60 per cent of Singaporean adults aged between 30 and 39 did not meet the physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes a week.
So it is timely that the healthy workplace ecosystem at MBC has been rolled out to encourage more staff to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
For one, employees can choose to either start or end their day with a run with colleagues by taking part in HPB’s fitness programmes.
The morning workout programme “Sunrise in the City” and i-Run sessions, which are currently held in the central business district, will be brought to MBC employees in November.
The MBC i-Run session will take place every Wednesday from 6pm to 7pm, and participants can go on a run at nearby Labrador Park.
Ng Hui Lan, a Mapletree employee, said: “Previously, I’ve been going to the gym alone and it can get quite boring sometimes. So after joining Mapletree, my colleagues and I have more fun exercising together and motivating each other.”
Healthier food will also be made more readily available.
About 60 per cent of Singapore’s population aged between 18 and 69 usually consume more calories than they need.
To help them make healthier choices, over 90 per cent of stalls in MBC’s food court will serve at least two dishes which are less than 500 calories.
A banner showing the number of calories in each dish will also be placed at the entrance of the food court so that employees can make informed decisions about their meals.
Discounts will also be offered on healthier food items.
The Health Ministry hopes this initiative will help develop a culture of healthy living.
Associate Professor Faishal Ibrahim, Singapore Parliamentary Secretary for Health, said: “All these workers, they have families. So when they start thinking about living healthily… I hope they (will) bring (the healthy lifestyle) to their home, families and community.”
Prof Faishal added that the master plan was anchored on 3Ps — place, people and price.
This is to ensure that a conducive physical environment and affordable healthy food are within reach for staff, and also to create an environment where peers and colleagues could help motivate one another to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Going forward, the HPB will build tripartite relationships to roll out programmes for lower income workers.
As a start, they will be mainly from industries with workers doing shift work and who have no fixed worksites, such as the food and beverage, retail and transport sectors.
These workers are targeted as they generally cannot afford the means and time to practise healthy lifestyles.
The HPB has also partnered the National Taxi Association (NTA) to develop customised health workshops for their cabbies, so that they will be better equipped with the skills and knowledge of healthy living.
The Board hopes to replicate this model of a healthy workplace system with other business parks and workplaces in the next year.
Singapore"s first healthy workplace ecosystem unveiled
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