Good health and well-being: A Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations

Since 2015, United Nations has set 17 goals to achieve sustainable development by 2030. The No 3 of these goals is related to Good health and well-being for all at all ages. It is a goal to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for everyone. This 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development includes a chapter (chapter 6) on ¨Protecting and Promoting Human Health¨ recognizing that health and development are intimately interconnected and one cannot be achieved without the other.

But, is this obvious?

It does not seem so in the corporate world.

Every year, since 2016, an SDG Progress report is released providing a global overview of progress on the implementation of the Goals using the latest available data and estimates. It tracks the global and regional progress towards the 17 Goals with in-depth analyses of selected indicators for each Goal. The 2022 report revealed a worsening reality, away from the initial 2030 goals and agenda where, among others, showed that:

• the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 have worsened uneven progress toward universal health coverage and that
• the pandemic has triggered a significant rise in anxiety and depression, particularly among young people.

European Parliament, on the other hand, has recently released new rules on corporate sustainability reporting in order to actively force implementation of the SDGs. That means that companies will be required (starting from 01/01/2024) to present a more detailed, than before, report on sustainability issues such as environmental, social, and human rights. These new EU rules on non-financial information will apply to all large companies and SMEs, taking into account their specific characteristics, together with non-EU companies. The EU ESG Benchmark Regulation (BMR) will now require companies that publish financial benchmarks and indexes to disclose, also, how they incorporate ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) factors into their calculations.

Why the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals should be applied to companies?

PwC has analyzed this matter explaining, in numbers, the evolution of corporate sustainability and how EU sustainable finance regulation aims at supporting the EU to achieve at least three of these ambitious UN targets by 2030. The goal of a sustainable investment requires Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) actions that include:

• Waste management, Climate Stability, Innovation, and Natural Resources, in the Environment part.
• Human Capital, Value Chain, Community, and diversity, in the Social part.
• Risk management, anti-bribery, corruption, corporate governance, and transparency, in the Governance part.

Recent research has also shown a positive relationship between a company’s market capitalization and the quality of its ESG reports.

How a large or small company, corporation, or organism can implement and achieve this goal No 3?

We, in DNANUTRICOACH®, support your organization, company, or SME in this ESG journey. We help you implement improvements in the ESG (Environment-Social-Governance) areas, such as in Human Capital, Community and Diversity, Natural resources, waste management, and innovation.

We show you how to incorporate these ESG factors in your reports, by starting acting on nutrition.

Nutrition is the No 1 modifiable risk factor that everyone can learn how to control and convert it into an asset for longevity and well-being. Investing in prevention is crucial to ensure healthy lives for all and promote well-being. Nutrition is the main, non-invasive, preventive measurement that when learned to control, it can enhance health at every stage and age.

Our corporate wellness programs offer tailored-made solutions according to:

• the number of your employees,
• your operations and
• your level of ESG implementation until today.

We guide and coach in teams or in one-on-one sessions, starting from everyday nutritional habits, inside and outside the office. Employees´ well-being and wellness today are not a luxury. It is a prerequisite for enhanced productivity, improved motivation, and greater performance. If I am healthy in my body and happy in my mind, I am unstoppable and able to achieve every goal I set. And, that is the foundation for a successful business.

Moreover, if I am empowered and I know how to protect and promote my health by choosing sustainable habits and nutrition, then I am a key partner in this ambitious project that is called ESG implementation. This No 3 goal may sound more generic and general than it really is. It does include a number of sub-categories that cannot be addressed altogether and by all companies at the same time. Some of these categories are to:

1. Reduce maternal mortality.
2. Prevent newborns and children’s deaths.
3. End epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases.
4. Reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment.
5. Promote mental health and well-being.
6. Strengthen prevention and treatment of substance abuse.
7. Reduce deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.
8. Ensure access to sexual and reproductive health care.
9. Reduce deaths from air, water, and soil contamination and pollution.
10. Control tobacco use.
11. Support research and development of vaccines and medicines.

The Corporate well-being solution

Good health and well-being can be an everyday practice and routine, as long as you know how to adapt your habits. Investing in your team not only will improve their own health but will also improve the engagement of the employees and keep them from the quiet quitting phenomenon. A phenomenon where employees are trying to communicate their deep dissatisfaction with the culture of work. This is a rising phenomenon that decreases their passion and productivity and slows down the business.

It is never too late to start.

To start with nutrition: the most modifiable risk factor, the non-invasive and most preventive asset you can invest in.

Read more about how corporate wellness programs are a payoff investment here.