Challenges to healthy eating in the office workspace environment

Abstract

Background: Around 50% of the working population in developed countries works in an office environment, spending long hours in a predominantly sedentary position. Understanding the challenges office workers face to eat healthy at their place of work is vital to motivate changes in eating habits. The aim of this study is to gain insight on such challenges and general eating habits of office workers in Malta. Method: The target population identified was office workers working sedentary desk-jobs in Malta. A structured online questionnaire containing a mix of closed-ended and open ended-questions was designed to gather relevant data. Face and content validation followed. Ethical approval was granted by the Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC) and the questionnaire was disseminated via social media posts on groups and pages who granted the necessary permission. The Data collected was imported to SPSS 27 software to carry out a number of statistical tests including Chi-square tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: Respondents (n=225) were predominantly female, aged 45-54 years, non-smokers, overweight and well-educated. The most common challenges faced to eat healthy at work were the lack of time for preparation (44.4%) and the cost (39.6%) of healthy food. 71.1% of participants believe that their office does not prioritise healthy eating. Participants belonging to a younger age-group were more likely to use food delivery apps at work. The trend also suggests that participants were more likely to prepare a healthier lunch if they had higher academic qualifications. Conclusion: The findings of this research shed light on the factors determining office employees’ eating habits. The majority of participants in this cohort struggle with affordability of healthy food and time constraints. Such factors may be potential targets for intervention.