Food Choices Linked To Work Stress

According to customer insight firm Ordoo, people's food choices are directly linked to the amount of stress they are going through at work. The importance of finding out what triggers these poor food choices is critical but people are unable to escape the time demands of work.

Maximising the potential of the time we have available to make good food choices is key in preventing weight gain as Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays prove to be the main points at which good choices decline.

The data (from over 20,000 food orders) published by Ordoo shows that:

● People are twice as likely to eat unhealthily on Monday as they are on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).

● Thursday is the least healthy day, with almost one in three (29%) choices being unhealthy.

● Coffee consumption spikes on Monday afternoons to levels more twice as high as any other afternoon of the week.

● People are 23% more likely to eat healthily in Summer than in Winter.

The data also suggests that crash dieting is a factor here before holidays and mainly in the Summer, with people 23% more likely to order healthy food in Summer rather than in Spring. This is also attributed to people being more relaxed and taking more time to make their choices. Finally, the data shows that coffee sales more than double on Monday afternoons as people struggle to cope with the start of the week.

Ordoo CEO Tom Dewhurst commented:

“One of the most exciting aspects of our work is that we get to see and understand new things about consumer behaviour almost every day. It’s a truism that everyone starts crash dieting in the early summer in order to get ‘beach ready’, but our data can show getting ready for holidays may not be the whole truth about why people yoyo diet.

From the way people binge on caffeine to get them through Monday afternoons to the way they are twice as likely to eat healthily at the weekend, these findings suggest that our stressful work lives have a recurring impact on our dietary choices.”

If you would like to book an appointment with a nutritionist, logon on to www.wellclik.com.

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