Employees prefer information more than free food

Employees prefer information more than free food

Purpose Nutrition behaviours have been linked to an increased risk of poor health and reduced productivity at work. Therefore, the workplace is a logical setting to implement nutrition-related programmes. Many existing workplace health promotion programmes (WHPPs) employ a standardised approach that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of workplace health management Vol. 10; no. 4; pp. 332 - 342
Main Authors: Street, Tamara D, Lacey, Sarah J, Grambower, Jade A
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Bingley Emerald Publishing Limited 07-08-2017
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Subjects:
Age differences
Desire
Disease prevention
Employee involvement
Employers
Female employees
Food
Fruits
Gender
Gender differences
Health promotion
Health status
Health surveys
Healthy food
Labor force
Mining
Motivation
Nutrition
Nutrition education
Occupational health
Older people
Participation
Productivity
Psychosocial factors
Self report
Staff participation
Systematic review
Wellness programs
Work site programmes
Workplaces
Australia
Workplace health promotion
Occupational health
Occupational health services
Nutrition
Healthy people programmes
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Summary:Purpose Nutrition behaviours have been linked to an increased risk of poor health and reduced productivity at work. Therefore, the workplace is a logical setting to implement nutrition-related programmes. Many existing workplace health promotion programmes (WHPPs) employ a standardised approach that typically attracts those who are already healthy or highly motivated to change. Understanding the factors that influence an individual’s desire to improve health and participate in nutrition WHPP will facilitate the development of highly engaging programmes that appeal to the greatest number of workers. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In all, 881 employees of an Australian mining company participated in a self-report health survey aimed at investigating employee predictors of desire to improve personal nutrition, desire for assistance with improving personal nutrition, and intention to participate in nutrition WHPPs. Findings Overall, females and older employees were most likely to intend to participate, with group information sessions garnering the widest appeal to employees. Practical implications The findings suggest that practitioners ought to include a group-based educational component designed to increase awareness particularly to employees who are nutritionally deficient and unlikely to voluntarily participate in strategies. Originality/value The innovative psychosocial research findings and recommendations outlined herein may be applied immediately to increase employee participation in workplace nutrition strategies.
ISSN:1753-8351
1753-836X
DOI:10.1108/IJWHM-02-2017-0013