Packed lunches are facing extinction with only five percent of workers bringing their own meals to work, new research shows.
National health and safety law consultancy Protecting.co.uk found that the convenience of ready-made sandwiches combined with office rules that prevent eating at desks means that fewer workers than ever are preparing their own lunches at home.
Protecting.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall said:
“It’s well known that worker productivity is linked to both decent breakfasts and lunches and it appears that thanks to so-called convenience foods, fewer employees are eating properly.”
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“The number of people who have a proper meal during their working day is depressingly low. We’re shocked at the number of folk who go without something to eat at all.”
The survey of over 300 workers revealed that employees are increasingly eating less healthy options in the name of convenience. 13 percent of respondents said they eat at fast food restaurants, 22 percent eat sweets and crisps from vending machines and 21 percent report that they don’t have lunch at all.
Protecting.co.uk are calling for the return of the packed lunch, saying the health benefits make it worth the effort.
Hall added:
“We don’t have to be Jamie Oliver to point out that junk food leads to all kinds of illnesses in the long run. While companies can’t press their workers into what kind of lunch they eat, they could try out a healthy eating campaign to encourage better nutrition.”
Title image courtesy of Protecting.co.uk.
Steff joined the HRreview editorial team in November 2014. A former event coordinator and manager, Steff has spent several years working in online journalism. She is a graduate of Middlessex University with a BA in Television Production and will complete a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Westminster in the summer of 2015.
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