iGlobalWellness reveals the results of a nationwide initiative to map,illustrate and improve the health of the British workforce in 2014.

What has been measured the activity level of the entire UK workforce; and second, to improve it. With a 26.1 percent obesity rate leading many to label Britain the fattest country in Europe, this second aim was no mean feat. But did their findings correspond to this image of a lazy and inactive Britain? And if so, have they made a difference? The programme iGlobalWellness designed for the job is called the Stay Active Challenge, and it's the most comprehensive and engaging corporate wellness programme available globally. Over the course of the year thousands of employees from companies across all sectors of the British economy got into teams of 5 and competed to increase their activity levels.

Employees wore the iAM, a revolutionary activity monitor developed by iGlobalWellness, which measures speed and intensity of movement, combined with calorie burn and metabolic data. The iAM was worn at all times and tracked employees' every movement, no matter how large or small. The iAM measured participants' data before the Challenge to assess typical activity levels, and during and after the Challenge to measure any improvements. So are we as sedentary as we think we are? The short answer is yes: If not more so. Headline statistics show that on average British workers spend a total of 99 minutes in medium and high intensity activity per week. NHS guidelines specify that 150 minutes is the healthy minimum. And matters are worse when we look at calorie burn. The same NHS guidelines recommend that for adults ideally 20 percent of all calories burnt should be burnt through activity, the other 80 percent coming from the calories your body uses to maintain basic life functions. It has been found that for women just 8 percent of total calorie burn comes from activity and for men its 7 percent.

So much for the results of task 1: We're even more sedentary than we thought. But how about task 2: Did iGlobalWellness manage to get British workers active? Once again the short answer is yes. On average participants increased their activity levels by an incredible 72 percent, which means that by the end of the Challenge they were spending 356 minutes in medium and high intensity activity per week. That takes British workers from falling 52 percent below NHS guidelines to surpassing them by 137 percent. And participants managed to overtake NHS guidelines on calorie burn too. By the end of the Challenge men were burning 21 percent of their calories through activity and women were burning 24 percent. Over the course of the Challenge women burnt 453 activity calories per day and men burnt 476. That's an 300 percent increase over the start of the challenge and the equivalent of an hour's aerobics every day or a marathon every week!

Chief Executive Russell Tomlin said of the initiative: “We're incredibly proud of what participants in the Challenges have achieved this year, but we've got a long way to go to transform the baseline health and wellbeing of the UK workforce, which has always been our aim.” To that end 2014 will see the launch Wellness Circles across the UK.

These unique company-specific social networks are designed to build ambition, wellness, and a sense of community into the fabric of the British workforce. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the data collected is the opportunity it provides to analyse the wellbeing of the British workforce by industry, gender, age and weight. There are some startling divides to be seen. The most active workers in the UK are those in the transport industry who typically spend 25 percent more time in activity than the average British employee. Women tend to spend 14 percent more time in activity than men, but at a 20 percent lower intensity level. Perhaps surprisingly, older participants increased their activity levels by 25 percent more than their younger colleagues, and tended to spend more time in activity, though again at a slightly lower intensity level. Comprehensive data and analysis on any and all subdivisions are available on request.

One achievement iGlobalWellness have been particularly proud of in 2013 is the way the programmes have helped overweight workers. Those who were overweight at the start of a Challenge increased their activity levels by 12 percent more than employees who were of a healthy weight, which illustrates how the Stay Active Challenge resonates with those who have the most to gain from increasing their activity levels.

With this in mind, a new initiative is being launching, Pound Punchers in 2014: a unique weight loss programme that allows users to track calorie consumption alongside calorie burn. Having already made startling inroads into getting the UK more active, their hope is that this programme will help to tackle the 26.1 percent obesity rate that really oughtn't to define our relation to Europe. Ten Foreign Working Customs People Would Like to See Introduced in the UK. New research from an online visa application help website has revealed a top ten of unusual workplace customs which are commonplace abroad that UK office workers would like to see introduced into the UK; with an afternoon ‘siesta’ and shorter working weeks topping the charts.