The Salt Lake Tribune: Healthy workers use Wii to help S.L. County stay fiscally fit

Salt Lake County government spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year encouraging its employees to be fit — awarding cash perks for exercise and weight loss, offering health assessments, even checking out Wii game systems to help staffers get in shape. But is the Healthy Lifestyles program worth its $700,000-plus price tag?

Program leaders will release a study this summer showing Utah’s most populous county has saved big bucks by urging its employees to work out, eat healthy and douse cigarettes. For every dollar spent on wellness programs, the study suggests, more than three are saved on medical claims.