FACTS

1. Good eating habits start at birth. These habits will provide optimal nutrition for infants that will benefit them throughout their lives. Healthy eating can reduce the risk of chronic illness and disease including the three leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer and stroke.
2. The World Health Organization stated that at least 80 percent of all heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes, and up to 40 percent of cancer could be prevented if people ate better, engaged in more physical activity and quit using tobacco.
3. Everyone should try to eat well and engage in physical activity. These habits are beneficial for all; whether you’re overweight, underweight or at a healthy weight.
4. Poor diet on the job is costing countries around the world up to 20 per cent in lost productivity, either due to malnutrition that plagues some one billion people in developing countries or the excess weight and obesity afflicting an equal number mostly in industrialized economies.
5. Better nutrition in the workplace can raise national productivity rates, while workplace meal programs can prevent micronutrient deficiencies and chronic diseases, obesity with modest investments that can be repaid in reduction of sick days and accidents.

STATS

• The survey of employed U.S. adults who typically eat lunch during work hours found that:
• More than 9 in 10 (91%) are interested in improving the healthfulness of their typical workday lunch with employees under 40 more likely to be extremely/very interested compared to employees aged 40+ (65% vs. 55%).
• More than 4 in 5 (82%) agree that having healthy food options at work is important to them and more than 2 in 3 (68%) value help from their employer in becoming healthier.
• About 4 in 5 (79%) whose workplace has on-site cafeteria, food service or vending machines get food there at least some of the time.
• Nearly 9 in 10 (86%) prepare work lunches at home at least some of the time, with women more likely to do so than men (91% vs. 82%).
• When eating an unhealthy lunch, employees under age 40 are more likely to be impacted at least a little bit by cost (91% vs. 79%) and choices of their peers or coworkers (75% vs. 50%) than employees aged 40+.
• On a stressful day at work, about 1 in 3 (35%) say their lunch is less healthy than a typical day, with women more likely to say so than men (40% vs 32%).
• About 37 percent of workplace injuries in the US are related to slips, trips and falls. (Occupational Safety and An unhealthy diet is the leading risk factor for death, causing more than 500,000 U.S. deaths in 2016, according to a new study.
• For the study, University of Washington researchers analyzed data on 333 diseases in every state from 1990-2016.
• They implicated diet in 529,999 deaths from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases in 2016. After diet, tobacco, high blood pressure, and obesity were the next biggest early death risks.