During the holiday season cookie exchanges, potlucks and other special meals take center stage and making healthy choices can prove difficult. Navigating workplace holiday functions and the overload of treats available at work can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, working in a stressful environment can also cause us to stop doing the things that keep us healthy. Stressed workers can feel as if they don't have enough time or energy to prepare healthy food or stay physically active.
A stressful work environment where workers experience high demand, low job control and low social support can lead to skipping meals, eating at workstations, extra snacking and a preference for calorie dense foods. When less healthy food options are all that's available, you can be left with a difficult choice: eat something that's unhealthy, or nothing at all.
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted research on workplace eating behaviours and found some surprising results, which they released in June, 2018. Of the 5,222 working adults surveyed, 22 per cent obtained food from their workplace at least once per week accounting for an average of 1,277 additional calories consumed per week. The majority of those additional calories (71 per cent) were coming from free foods, available in common areas, which are generally highly processed and high in fat, sugar and sodium; think brownies, cookies, cakes, candy and pizza.
Major barriers to healthy eating in the workplace include a lack of access to healthy food choices and easy access to unhealthy ones. As you become stressed or tired throughout the day, it's more likely you'll turn your attention to those free treats.
There are many other factors that influence our individual eating behaviours, including our perception of our own diet quality, our level of fatigue and the social pressure we can receive from coworkers, all of which can cause us to make less healthy choices when feeling stressed.
Justifying behaviour is one way we rationalize unhealthy choices and habits, especially in the workplace. It can be easy to overestimate the benefits of our healthy actions, while underestimating the impact of our less healthy decisions.
It may seem as if an extra slice of birthday cake or a couple Christmas cookies are no big deal, but every diet decision you make contributes to your overall health and most people have a tendency to underestimate the calories they consume. Plus, when you're eating chips, cookies, and cake every day, are they still just treats? Or a regular part of your diet?
While it may be virtually impossible to prevent unhealthy foods from being available in your workplace, you can give yourself healthy options by having nutritious snacks on hand. If you have a fridge at work, bring low-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, hummus, carrots and celery sticks, or cut-fruit. No fridge? Stock your desk or locker with dry cereal, peanut butter and crackers, canned fish, mini bagels, low-salt pretzels or nuts. You can help to eliminate at least one barrier to healthy eating by making nutritious options easily available.
Healthy eating in the workplace can contribute to the enhancement of your physical and mental well-being and help reduce absenteeism and increase productivity. Everyone has a role to play in creating and promoting a workplace environment that supports healthy eating. While there is nothing wrong with showing appreciation for your coworkers by bringing them food during the holidays, or anytime, keep in mind that the types of foods brought into the workplace can impact the dietary habits of the individuals in that environment. Bringing in a box of mandarin oranges or a tray of vegetables with hummus can be just as much of a treat as a box of chocolates or a tray of squares.
For healthy recipes to share with your coworkers, go to Dietitians of Canada's recipe website at www.cookspiration.com .
-- Kelsey Leckovic is a Registered Dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.
