Baseline characteristics of workers at ten New York City employers recruited for a private-public research collaborative

OBJECTIVE: To describe a public-private collaborative and present results from the administration of a baseline health risk assessment (HRA). METHODS: A custom-designed HRA was made available to 31,535 New York workers, and 5539 (17.6%) completed the survey. Data from the HRA were used to present a business case to employers urging them to support health promotion efforts at their worksites. RESULTS: Of these, 78.5% of workers in the sample reported poor eating habits, 39.9% were sedentary, and 62.2% were overweight, obese, or extremely obese; 30.4% had high or borderline-high total cholesterol levels, 24.9% reported high or borderline high blood pressure, and 16.8% reported high or borderline high blood glucose levels; tobacco use rates were relatively low (14.0%). CONCLUSION: Results represent a baseline against which future data for the study cohort will be compared to evaluate the health and financial impacts of engaging employees in workplace health promotion programs.