Healthy at Work - Healthy eating
Through encouraging healthy eating choices at work and educating workers, employers can help reduce the risks of obesity, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and some cancers.
The benefits of a workforce that is well-educated and knowledgeable about healthy eating can extend beyond the workplace to the home and to the employees' families.
5 easy steps an employer can take:
- Ensure that eating facilities are clean and attractive, to encourage employees to take a break away from their workstation and to eat in a hygienic area
- Make sure that vending machines contain low-sugar drinks, water and fruit, rather than just high-sugar soft drinks, chocolate and crisps. Experiment with pricing of vending items - for example, subsidising the healthier ones and increasing the price of less healthy ones
- If you have in-house catering facilities, make sure that you provide a range of healthy foods and drinks, and that portions are not too large. Remove salt from tables; provide it on demand instead
- Identify the healthier options on menus - for example with simple labels, or with a traffic lights or logo system. Provide information on food content
- Provide information on healthy eating and support 'healthy eating weeks'
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