From Thanksgiving through the beginning of the New Year, the extra tasty treats and alcohol consumed at holiday events can cause unwelcome weight gain.

Bayer CropScience hoped to help employees avoid this and other common year-end pitfalls including inactivity through interactive technology.

The crop science company, which has its North America headquarters in Research Triangle Park, recently introduced its latest healthy living campaign, “Lighten Up the Holidays,” through the company’s B Well portal. B Well, started in 2011, is a health and wellness initiative which includes an interactive online program that encourages employees to make healthy living a habit through the adoption of proper eating and exercise routines.

The “Lighten Up the Holidays” campaign specifically targets this time of year to help participants maintain their weight rather than gain extra holiday pounds. It was designed to help participants plan ahead to avoid overeating and choosing unhealthy foods.

Through the B Well portal on Bayer CropScience’s website, each employee can set up an individual profile which contains components that assist in tracking daily exercise and water intake, and provides advice for proper stress management, all of which help employees better understand how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The program also offers tips and tricks to assist users in lightening up their favorite holiday dishes. Spouses of Bayer CropScience employees are invited to participate in “Lighten Up the Holidays” as well.

Bayer CropScience wants to spark employee interest in the B Well website, which contains a wealth of wellness information. In addition to special programs like “Lighten Up the Holidays,” the B Well website provides a health risk assessment, where employees can answer a series of questions and receive a score that shows their health status relative to people of their same age and gender.

Participants can also work with a health coach online or via the phone to set and achieve health goals. Numerous programs on the website have helped to promote healthy living, including “Step it Up,” a walking campaign that encouraged the use of pedometers to track walking distance, and “Eat for the Health of It,” a program that focused on nutritious dietary choices through promoting the consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables.

All of these features are easily accessible through the B Well website, which means that Bayer CropScience employees can record their health efforts, and access any program-related information, anywhere they can connect to the Internet. Participants receive regular email reminders to log in and review each week’s helpful information, assisting them in tracking their healthy living progress.

With these programs, Bayer CropScience hopes to increase overall employee health and well-being through improved biometrics, safety, health habits and compliance with preventive care based on age and gender.

A web-based tool will be available through B Well in 2013 to help guide employee to the best resources for their unique needs. Bayer CropScience is working closely with all of the company’s employee benefit vendors, including dental and other healthcare providers, to leverage this tool to promote programs that support improved total health and well-being. In the meantime, Bayer CropScience hopes “Lighten Up the Holidays” will help participants utilize B Well to kick off a seasonal health commitment, which the company hopes will turn into a lifestyle of health and happiness.

Editor’s note: Lynne de Sherbinin is the vice president of human resources for Bayer CropScience LP and serves as the ACO/Seeds Global HR coordinator. She joined Bayer in 1988 as an organizational representative at Miles Labs and was promoted to manager of human resources for the Diagnostic Division in 1992. Lynne transferred to the Pharma organization in Bayer Leverkusen, Germany, in 1998 and then transferred to the Diagnostics Division’s Dublin, Ireland, facility in 2000. She moved back to the United States in 2003 to be head of human resources for Diabetes Care and was promoted to vice president in 2004. In 2009 she became vice president of global human resources for the Medical Care Division.

(C) Bayer CropScience