We used to say "What is good for General Motors is good for the country."

Now it's more like: "What is good for the baby boomers is good for the country."

This huge generation is aging and becoming more frequent patients at health facilities. The tremors of this shift will hit our country for the next 20 years.

I am an aging "cheesehead" and proud of it. I know Wisconsin's famous beer, cheese and brats all too well.

But I am lucky. My primary care physician, a workplace wellness program and life event whacked me on the head. And this dose of personal health reform has led to overdue lifestyle changes.

I hope I will stay on track.

Multiply my story by millions of fellow cheeseheads and you see the bigger challenge.

Our workforce is getting older. Older workers are more likely to consume more health care as age and habits catch up with us. Poorer health, at any age, makes us less productive at work and increases our use of sick days.

This costs employers more, which makes employers less competitive, which means fewer jobs for us and for our kids.

A recent report from the Council of Economic Advisors to President Barack Obama drives home this point: "Slowing the growth in health care spending from 6 percent a year to 4.5 percent would have enormous benefits for the economy. It would create as many as 500,000 jobs a year and increase annual income for a family of four by $2,600."

No amount of "health care reform" can fix our own behaviors. We must work to reduce the amount of care our system needs to deliver. We must get serious about doing what we can to get and stay healthy. We need to do this as individuals, workplaces and communities.

Many workplaces are working to help employees make healthier decisions. Employees are more likely to make healthier choices when workplace policies promote health and reduce risk of disease. Employee wellness committees are key to work site success. All of us are more likely to respond when we hear clear expectations and are part of deciding how they can be met.

Thrive, a collaborative economic development enterprise for eight counties in southern Wisconsin, is sponsoring a new approach to workplace wellness. Three dozen major health care organizations have developed a bold plan to improve the health of the region's workforce. They are starting with themselves.

By 2011, the target is for those employers with formal wellness programs to experience a 10 percent improvement in employees choosing a healthier lifestyle. The goal is to eat more fruits and vegetables, be more physically active and low to no alcohol and tobacco use. The five-year goal is for 60 percent of the workforce to be at a healthy weight.

We can fight the recession with our health.

Size is executive director of the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative in Sauk City.