Is work keeping us from acting healthy? How workplace barriers and facilitators impact nutrition and exercise behaviors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify common barriers and facilitators to healthy nutrition and exercise behaviors in the workplace and examine their relationships to those actual daily health behaviors. We utilized a concurrent embedded mixed methods approach to collect data from 93 participants over the span of four days. Participants reported 2.80 nutrition and 3.28 exercise barriers on average over the 4 days, while reporting 2.93 nutrition and 1.98 exercise facilitators in the same timeframe. Results indicated that workload and temptations around the office prevented nutritious eating; exercise behaviors were frequently hindered by workload. The most commonly mentioned eating facilitator was proper planning, while having time to exercise facilitated physical activity. Furthermore, the number of barriers reported negatively related to their respective health behaviors (i.e., more nutrition barriers translated to poorer nutrition habits) and facilitators were positively related to them, both overall and more so on the specific day they were reported. The implications of these finding show the importance of barriers/facilitators in the workplace and aid in the creation of more targeted health promotion that could increase positive employee health behaviors by eliminating common barriers and enhancing facilitators.

Stress, health, and job performance: What do we know?

“…Thus, stress clearly impacts cardiovascular health, which in turn can have an effect on job performance, and cardiovascular issues often co‐occur with other major health problems. These findings are not surprising given that work stressors, such as workload, are cited as the number one barrier to making healthy choices in the workplace (Mazzola et al., ).…”

“…A complete review of the literature on physical health is beyond the scope of this manuscript. However, much of the literature on physical health in the workplace has focused on widespread issues, such as physical activity (Mazzola, Moore, & Alexander, ), obesity (Heinen & Darling, ), cardiovascular issues (Banes, ; Risavi & Staszko, ), and workplace safety (Clarke, ; Nahrgang, Morgeson, & Hofmann, ). It is important for organizations to recognize the importance of each of these issues and the relationship each has with stress and job performance.…”

“…Access to exercise facilities is significantly related to actual physical activity (Humpel, Owen, & Leslie, ). Indeed, employees state that one of the most important factors influencing whether they engage in physical activity is the presence of exercise facilities (Mazzola et al., ). Unfortunately, access to exercise facilities does not do much in terms of increasing the physical activity of those who do not regularly exercise because evidence suggests that people who use exercise facilities are those who exercise regularly anyway (Abraham, Feldman, Nyman, & Barleen, ).…”

“…Thus, social support in the workplace has the potential to promote or impede healthy behaviors and choices of employees. When social support is positive employees are more likely to make positive health choices but negative social influences can be a barrier to healthy behaviors (Mazzola et al., ).…”

Managing exercise with another highly valued and conflicting leisure time goal

“…The exercise recommendation is for adults to engage in 150+ min of moderate to vigorous exercise each week to produce health benefits, such as decreased risk of chronic diseases (e.g., type 2 diabetes), improved fitness, and positive mental health (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology [CSEP], ; Garber et al., ; United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], ). Up to 80% of adults do not meet the recommendation (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], ; Statistics Canada, ) with lack of time being one of the most commonly reported barriers (Cary, Brittain, et al., ; Gierc, Locke, Jung, & Brawley, ; Mazzola, Moore, & Alexander, ; Prince et al., ) .…”