20 May 2014

Families should promote a healthy lifestyle for their children’s sake, the wellness officer for Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa mines, Mr Lawrence Nthutang, said on May 17.

Officiating at a wellness event organised by Karowe Diamond Mine at Mmatshumu in the Boteti Sub-district, Mr Nthutang said family walk time should be included in the tight daily schedules.

“Walk together every day or night, once a week or twice a week just for 30 minutes to an hour even if it is just around the yard,” he said. Mr Nthutang said walking a child to and from school did not only offer a family time to exercise together but also gave the parents time to connect with their children and understand them better.

He said recommended bicycle rides for families, and that they should also join social clubs to play football, basketball or any other sport for health. Some household chores could also be turned into some form of exercise.

He said for a better health through awareness and education, people needed to take into consideration health risks such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.

He stressed that prevention was key to employee wellbeing. He recommended at 30 minutes of exercise three times a week, together with a balanced diet.

He also said people should adopt positive ways of dealing with stress instead of drinking alcohol. He also recommended regular medical check-ups, including for HIV, blood pressure and diabetes.

Mr Nthutang said families needed to be concerned about their health if Botswana was to have a healthy workforce. He explained that the first step towards building a successful wellness programme was to gain an understanding of health risks, health status and readiness to change.

He said the health status of an individual determined his or her ability to work productively. He said employers should work with employees to resolve issues of alcohol abuse, cigarette smoking and lack of exercise to formulate a relevant wellness programme.

He said a return on investment indicator would provide an accurate measure of the impact of a wellness strategy compared with the costs of an employee. Ends