Ninety-six per cent of workers say they tend to eat lunch at their desks at least once a week, while a huge 42% say they are desk bound every day.
Worst of all, 62% questioned say they are prone to snacking when at work. Reasons given include:
- hunger – 36%
- peer pressure from colleagues bringing in sugary snacks – 25%
- boredom – 17%
Crisps and biscuits topped the chart of favourite snacks while only 17% said they opt for the healthier option of fruit.
Forty-eight per cent of office-based workers said they believe that if they worked from home they would eat more healthily. As well as the health benefits they think they could save money on lunch.
Sixty-one per cent of respondents said they currently buy their lunch every day, 31% spend between £3 and £4 a day. In contrast, a third of respondents said they could potentially save between £1 and £2 every day on lunch, if they worked at home.
John Fox, sales and marketing director of survey author Sterry said: “The results of our survey show that home workers could enjoy a healthier diet to those that are office based. This could be because of the food options that are available when at home, whereas office employees often rely on food outlets near their place of work.
“Of course, home working is not a practicality for all businesses or places of work, but we believe that due to the health benefits that can be derived, both in terms of diet and work life balance, it is something that employers should look at seriously. It is also important for companies to try and ensure employees are not always eating at their desks and to encourage them to take their full lunch break – this in turn can improve productivity.”
Reasons for wanting to work at home include having a less stressful commute with more time for personal activities (31%), more time with the family (21%) and more time for gym/sports clubs (17%).
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Break the Habit
I had just returned to my desk with some biscuits from the Executive Biscuit Tin when I received the Newswire and clicked on this article. I am one of the 42% who normally eat al desko daily. Trouble is, there is a lot of work to be done and taking a lunch break won’t be productive…or will it? Over the past few days of fine weather, I have made it my business to take a short walk around the area where I work. London E1 is hardly the best place to stroll but I have found the exposure to sunlight and unrecycled air to be of benefit. Most of us have Microsoft Office including Outlook Calendar. Yesterday I added a recurring appointment for 1pm to the effect that I should take some proper lunch and get out for a while. I asm looking forward to the reminder. Anything to Break the Habit should be tried as I feel that taking a break makes me more effective in the afternoon and less tired as the days goes on. As for working at home, yes, I am fortunate that for around one day a fortnight I can do that. The stressless journey to the “office” on days that I work at home is wonderful. Oddly, I tend to put in more hours on those days but feel fresher when I “come home”. As long as I can demonstrate productivity, my colleagues have no problem with this and some have followed my example. And as for the purpose of this article – working at home leads to a better diet as you have more control over what you eat and when.