A nutrient-poor meal impairs performance at work and other daily tasks, causing difficulty concentrating, lack of energy, bad mood, among other symptoms. Therefore, the company that encourages appropriate phone list eating habits has the opportunity to have healthy and well-disposed professionals, which will be positive for both. Want to know more about the subject? So, follow the text below!
What are the main benefits of healthy eating?
A nutritious meal, made up of foods from different groups, such as vegetables, carbohydrates and proteins, has numerous advantages: it contributes to health and quality of life , improves your willingness to work and study, among other aspects.
A great alternative to knowing which foods are best for a healthy diet can be found in Walter C. Willett 's pyramid . See below:
Ensures health and quality of life
According to data from the Ministry of Health, the proportion of obese people in the population aged 20 or over doubled in the country between 2003 and 2019, going from 12.2% to 26.8%. During this period, female obesity rose from 14.5% to 30.2%, while male obesity rose from 9.6% to 22.8%. The main factor for this is dietary patterns, which prioritize industrialized products over a balanced diet with fresh foods.
Obesity is a cause for great concern, as it becomes a risk factor for several diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. Therefore, it is necessary to make people aware of the importance of maintaining healthy eating habits and practicing physical activities.
“ Adequate water consumption and physical exercise are essential for you to have health and well-being, regardless of your age”, reminds Bruno Caraça, specialist in functional nutrition and nutrigenomics.
Having a quality diet is essential to ensure the correct functioning of the body and avoid diseases. Furthermore, the habit strengthens the immune system, improves sleep and reduces stress.
Improves work performance
A balanced diet, with all the nutrients the body needs, has a positive impact on the performance of professional tasks, as it provides energy and stimulates reasoning, contributing to productivity, concentration and disposition throughout the day, for example.
On the other hand, those who prioritize snacks, fried foods and processed foods, which are rich in fat, sodium and sugar, generally experience drowsiness, frequent health problems and difficulty concentrating — which can compromise task performance and increase the risk of accidents. at work.
“The idea is to have a healthy diet during the week, leaving one day free so you can eat however you want” , explains specialist Bruno Caraça.
Some of the Ministry of Health's recommendations include reducing oils, fats, salt and sugar when seasoning and cooking food and creating culinary preparations, limiting the consumption of processed foods and avoiding the consumption of ultra-processed foods.
Reduces medication costs and sick leave
Those who have an adequate diet are usually healthier. This means you tend to have fewer health problems and avoid spending on medication. This fact is also positive for the business, as it reduces absences and delays at work , the number of medical certificates and health plan costs.
Increases satisfaction with the company and reduces turnover
Concern for the health and well-being of employees demonstrates that the company cares about its workforce, which, combined with other strategies, can improve team satisfaction and motivation. And you know that these factors are significant for the success of a business, right?
Furthermore, valuing employees and increasing satisfaction with the organization are positive for reducing the turnover rate and minimizing the costs and effects on team performance of dismissing professionals.
How to talk about the importance of healthy eating to employees?
Given the above, the importance of encouraging healthy eating among employees is clear, right? And this shouldn't just be done in the workplace. To present satisfactory results, it must be part of the professionals' routine and be present at every meal of the day.
Changing eating habits can be difficult for many people. Therefore, the company must establish, in its internal communication planning, actions to make employees aware of the impacts of an unbalanced diet and provide suggestions on how to improve it on a daily basis.
“One idea is that you have a healthy diet for 6 days and one day off so you can eat the way you want”, comments specialist Bruno, highlighting that we can balance our diet by eating everything.
A good alternative to raising employee awareness is to create campaigns on the subject — with practical tips or recipes, encouraging the consumption of water, fruits and vegetables, among other ideas — and publishing them on the bulletin board, intranet or internal magazine can bring good results . Another suggestion is to organize lectures, cooking workshops and events on the topic to talk about the benefits of prioritizing “real foods” and encouraging employees to adopt them at home and at work.
How to apply healthy eating in the company?
In addition to communication tools, you can invest in other strategies so that healthy eating is part of the company culture and the work environment.
Providing fruit and organizing a nutritious breakfast for teams, for example, are ways to do this. Investing in basic food baskets for employees is also significant.
This strategy helps workers to have nutritious meals at home, as the basket is made up of essential items for Brazilians' diet, such as rice and beans, as well as other products to complement and differentiate the menu, such as pasta, tomato sauce, wheat flour, among others.
There are a variety of basic basket models on the market, and the company can choose the one that best suits the workers' profile or even customize the items according to their needs. However, to achieve good results, it is essential to choose a supplier that delivers on time and is committed to the quality and integrity of the products.
Some managers choose to provide food vouchers so that employees can purchase groceries in supermarkets. However, one of the negative sides of this tool is that the employer is unable to monitor the use of the voucher and will not have guarantees that the benefit was used to purchase healthy food products.
As we have seen, nutritious meals with “real food” bring countless benefits to people’s lives, being extremely positive, including for professional activities. Therefore, it is necessary for companies to talk about the importance of healthy eating and invest in actions to encourage changes in eating habits among employees.