OBESITY: IMPROVING ACCESS TO FACILITIES FOR EXERCISE AMONG FORMAL SECTOR EMPLOYEES IN KENYA

Purpose: This systematic review addresses the challenges of lack of access to facilities for exercise among employees working in the formal sector in Kenya. It identifies the causes of the problem and summarizes the best available evidence of the most promising options to address the problem.Methodology: A systematic approach was used in conducting literature review. The selection criteria for the papers were based on relevance of the paper and applicability to the context of study. At the initial stages, the investigations were limited to Pubmed and Hinari academic data bases for academic journals on the subject. When the databases did not yield adequate results, other search engines were used. Google and google scholar provided relevant articles. In order to get the best results which are relevant to the policy brief subject, terminologies and key words were used in the search. The following search terms were run in the two databases: ‘Workplace Obesity’, ‘Obesity and exercise at the workplace’, ‘Physical Activity in the Workplace’, Workplace and obesity’ and ‘workplace gyms’. A database was created in which the source of the literature identified and reference details of the search were stored. My search yielded 122 records of which 85 records remained after duplicates were removed. 60 records were screened and at the end 25 records were included in the final analysis. Findings: Obesity can have a huge impact in workplaces because it affects employees’ productivity. Ultimately, it affects the organizations’ bottom-line. This policy brief acknowledges that both the employee and the employer have a role to play in promoting utilization and access to facilities for exercise at the workplace.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Employees need to have sufficient knowledge about the benefits of engaging in physical. The employer needs to put policies and systems in place to promote access to facilities for exercise at the workplace. Such systems should include appointing Wellness coordinators and sensitizing the Human Resources personnel of their organizations about the advantages of having healthy employees.