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Worksite Supports for Healthy Eating Reported by Employed Adults
Author(s) -
Onufrak Stephen,
Park Sohyun,
Kimmons Joel,
Harris Diane
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.903.13
Subject(s) - cafeteria , environmental health , promotion (chess) , snack food , medicine , food preparation , healthy food , healthy eating , advertising , business , food science , food safety , physical therapy , physical activity , chemistry , pathology , politics , political science , law
We examined workplace food environment reported by employed Americans using 2013 Summer Consumer Styles Survey data on 2,101 adults working outside of the home. Food environment measures included the presence of cafeterias, vending machines, and break rooms; availability of healthy items in cafeterias, vending machines and meetings; availability of free drinking water, healthy food promotion, and nutrition education. Prevalence of work site features were examined overall and according to employer size (<100 or 蠅100 employees) with χ 2 tests used to test differences. Only 20% of respondents reported their employer provides opportunities to eat a healthy diet. Most amenities were reported more frequently by large compared to small company employees including break room with fridge/microwave (85% vs 63%, p<0.01), drink vending (77% vs 35%, p<0.01), food vending (70% vs 26%, p<0.01) and cafeteria/snack bar (51% vs 14%, p<0.01). Among those who reported having them, availability of healthy foods in cafeterias and food vending did not differ according to employer size with 22% of respondents reporting 蠅50% of foods/ drinks in the cafeteria were healthy and 5% reporting that 蠅50% of foods available in food vending were healthy. Among those with cafeteria or vending available, large company employees were twice as likely as small company employees to report labeling of healthy items (21% vs. 10%, p<0.01). Large company employees were also more likely to report employer provided information on healthy eating (24% vs. 7%, p<0.01), made drinking fountains available on each floor (71% vs. 52%, p<0.01), and had healthy items available at meetings (24% vs. 14%, p<0.01). In conclusion, employees report that workplace supports for healthy eating are limited, with availability even less common among smaller employers.