Food use and nutrient intake at worksite canteen or in packed lunches at work among Finnish employees

Abstract

Finnish employees have lunch at worksite canteens or have packed lunch, but the nutritional quality of neither is known. We investigated the food use and nutrient intake of Finnish employees who eat either at worksite canteens vis‐à‐vis those who eat packed lunches. Dietary data were collected by a 48‐hour‐dietary‐recall in the FINDIET 2002 survey. Employed Finns aged 25–64 years were included (n = 261). Men ate more fresh vegetables and salad dressing at the canteen than in packed lunches. Women consumed more fresh vegetables, vegetable foods and fish dishes at canteens. Among men, energy, vitamin A and carotenoid intake from canteen lunches were higher than from packed lunches. Among women, the canteen users got more energy and fat, but fewer carbohydrates and less sugar and fibre. Even though the nutritional differences in the meals eaten at different places were modest, eating at the canteen improved the diets of employees by increasing their vegetable intake.

How do university workers eat at the workplace?

“…The same occurs for mid-afternoon snacks, through the choice of cafeterias. Our results are in line with those found by Raulio (2009) in Finland.…”

“…The nutritional quality of a packed lunch is therefore contingent on its maker's knowledge of nutrition and willingness to prepare a healthy meal. It is known that women are more health conscious than men (Roos et al, 1998;Kiefer and Kunze, 2005;Fraser et al, 2000); hence, it was expected that women would have more nutritious packed lunches (Raulio, 2009). The choice of place for having meals seems to be influenced by the type of activity, as teachers choose restaurants and university food services for having lunch more frequently than non-academic staff/researchers.…”

The influence of facility layout on operations explored

“…For some it may even be a central activity during a working day. Roughly, employees have five different choices for lunch during working hours, they can either:eat in their office canteen;visit external food service points;eat at home;eat a packed meal at the workplace; ordo not eat at all (Raulio et al , 2009). Lunch in an office canteen is still very popular.…”

Öğünleri̇ni̇ Yaninda Taşiyan Ki̇şi̇ İmaji Üzeri̇ne Bi̇r Araştirma: Üni̇versi̇te Öğrenci̇leri̇ Arasinda Sağlikli Beslenme Davranişini Tutundurmak İçi̇n Alternati̇f Bi̇r Yol

“…On the other hand, there were not many pieces of research examining these issues with an adult sample. Only the small number of research conducted with an adult sample showed us that they mainly focused on the content of the employees' packed lunches and the nutrient composition of the packed vs. worksite canteen lunches (Raulio et al, 2009). We have not come across research investigating the food choices or food-related behaviors of adults in work or school environments from the point of cultural issues, acceptance/rejection to social groups, or the downstream consequences such as liking or disliking the work/school environment, just as the research conducted with children sample.…”