Half of workers have gained weight since starting their present jobs, according to CareerBuilder India survey

As the summer season approaches, workers hoping to get fit may come up against a major obstacle: their jobs. A new survey from CareerBuilder India shows that the workplace can wreak havoc on your waistline. According to the survey, more than half of Indian workers (52 per cent) say they have gained weight at their current jobs, with 31 per cent saying they have gained more than 2.5kg. Only 11 per cent of all workers say they’ve lost weight since working in their current position.

“Work-related stress, lack of sleep and overly packed schedules can often get in the way of healthy eating and exercise habits,”says Premlesh Machama, MD, CareerBuilder India. “Poor physical health, however, can also take a toll on mental health and work quality, so it’s important for workers to stay active, even if it just means taking small breaks throughout the day to walk around or stretch.”

The national survey was conducted online on behalf of CareerBuilder India of more than 1000 employees across the India.

Why the weight gain?

Sedentary roles, exhaustion and time constraints can present obstacles to staying fit. When asked what they felt contributed to their expanding waistlines, workers gave the following reasons:

-          Sitting at my desk most of the day – 60 per cent

-          Too tired from work to exercise – 36 per cent

-          No time to exercise before or after work – 37 per cent

-          Eating because of stress –24 per cent

-          The temptation of the office biscuit tin – 19 per cent

-          Having to skip meals because of time constraints – 28 per cent

-          Workplace celebrations – 26 per cent

-          Pressure to eat food co-workers bring in –20 per cent

-          Eating out regularly – 33 per cent

-          Happy hours – 24 percent

Eating and exercise habits

Exercise is a key part of a healthy lifestyle, but it may not be enough to keep workers in their ideal shape. Though the majority of workers (80 per cent) exercise on a regular basis, and nearly 6 in 10 (57 per cent) claim to work out at least three days week, 41 per cent of workers feel they are overweight.

Sometimes a little extra incentive can motivate individuals to work out, but the majority of workers (53 per cent) say their employers do not provide gym passes, access to workout facilities or wellbeing benefits. Of these workers, 41 per cent say they would take advantage of such opportunities. Only forty per cent of workers say their company provides these types of incentives.

When it comes to eating habits, it’s hard for workers to resist the allure of snack foods and restaurant meals. Three quarters of workers (77 per cent) confess to snacking at work, and 81 per cent say they regularly eat out at work instead of packing a lunch. Thirty-seven per cent eat out three times a week or more.

Men vs. women

More women (48 per cent) than men (34 per cent), say they feel overweight.However, men and women are equally as likely to exercise regularly, with 81 per cent of men and 79 per cent of women claiming to work out at least once per week.

5 Tips to maintain health and wellness at work

“Your job shouldn’t get in the way of maintaining a healthy lifestyle,”Premlesh says. He offers the following tips to help even the busiest of workers maintain wellness while on the job:

·         Put it on your calendar –Planning ahead and scheduling time for exercise the way you would a business meeting or conference call will make you more likely to prioritise it.

·         Get moving –Add as much movement to your daily activities as possible: for instance, park further away, or get off the bus or train a stop earlierand walk the remaining distance. Consider taking the stairs instead of the lift, going for a walk during your lunch hour and walking over to someone’s desk instead of sending an email.These little things can add up.

·         Stay away from fizzy drinks –Fizzy drinkscontains lots of sugar and empty calories. Drink water flavored with cucumber, strawberries or lemon instead, or green tea for a caffeine boost.

·         Pack a lunch– Bringing in lunch from home is an easy (and cost-effective) way to ensure you’re getting healthy ingredients and controlling your portion sizes.

·         Keep healthy snacks on hand –Keep nutritious snacks like almonds, hummus, carrots and air-popped popcorn at your desk so you don’t have to rely on the vending machine or biscuit tin to curb hunger between meals.

Methodology
The survey was conducted among 1019 employees in India.

The interviews were conducted online by Redshift Research in March & April 2015 using an email invitation and an online survey.

Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

Sample was selected from the Crowdology&Crowdology partner panels. Crowdology™ is an online panel owned and operated by Redshift Research.  The Crowdology™ panel is balanced across regional, age and gender demographic factors, and is nationally representative of the UK population. Each respondent completes 120 profiling questions before being accepted to join our panel.  Panel Quality Management is carried out frequently to ensure reliable surveys.

Although Redshift specializes in providing services to Marketing Communications companies (the Crowdology polling panel, for example) it has a long pedigree of full service research project execution across industry sectors. Redshift Research is adept at executing focus groups, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, online research, desk research and statistical modelling, to mention just a few techniques.