Briefly in English
Better work well-being with nutritional guidance – The Eat@Work project
Background:
Worksites are seen as an important environment to promote behavioral patterns, including healthy eating habits. Workplace nutrition interventions have shown significant changes in improving diet quality, physical and mental health and have shown positive return on investment by reducing health care costs as well as overall absenteeism. However, less studies have been focusing on improving the work well-being and ability to work with nutritional interventions. The objective of this Eat@Work (2022-2023) project is to increase employee work well-being and the ability to work with multifactorial nutritional intervention.
Methods:
The Eat@Work-project is targeted to small or medium-sized companies located in the Western Finland. Participants (n=103) are employees aged 18-65 years from ten different companies. One part of the project is a four-month multifactorial nutritional intervention with quasi-experimental design. The four-month intervention to all participants include: 1) individually tailored nutritional guidance (two times), 2) group guidance (three meetings), 3) use of Eat@Work mobile application (collect food records and give information) and 4) modifying the employee’s dining culture and environment at work (workplace visit). Comprehensive measurements are done to the employees at baseline and after four months. Nutrient intakes and diet are measured with three-day food records and structured questionnaire, work ability and functioning with the Finnish Abilitator measurement (scale 0-100%), work well-being with structured questionnaire, and suction of work with the Finnish Work Suction Test (scale 0-6 p). The project is implemented in two different samples: spring 2022 and autumn 2022.
Results:
Total of 103 participants (mean age 42 years, 50,5% male) participated the study (dropout 8 persons.).
At baseline, participants` work ability and functioning were good (mean 82%, SD 8.7) as well as the suction of work (mean 4.8 p, SD 1.0). The intakes of many nutrients were unbalanced. Participants rated their satisfaction with their diet as 6.1 (SD 2.0) on a scale of 0-10, and meal rhythm as 6.2 (SD 2.3) respectively.
| Main results after intervention |
Nutrient intakes increased (n=95)
|
Participants' satisfaction with their diet and meal rhythm increased (n=87)
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Work ability and functioning increased (n=87)
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Participants` self-assessed work motivation and general well-being also improved. Several positive changes have been made to the employee’s dining culture and environment, such as improving dining room equipment and adding snack machines.
Conclusions
Multifactorial nutritional intervention may increase employee work well-being and the ability to work. Eat@Work project will create new recommendations and tools to strengthen the nutrition of the employees and will give important information to companies and occupational health care service providers in improving employees’ nutrition.
Project Experts
Nutrition: Project Researcher Susanna Kunvik, PhD, Nutritionist
Brain Health: Juha Puustinen, PhD, Adjunct Professor
Mobile technology: Antti Koivisto, MSc
Working Life: Project Researcher Juha Harttunen, top management consultant
Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Welfare, Pori, Finland
