Almost a third of professionals across the Middle East region (28 percent) are overworked to the point that they only manage to eat once a day, according to a new poll.
The single meal is normally fast food and eaten at night, according to the results of an online poll series conducted by the Middle East jobsite, Bayt.com.
Another 26 percent of respondents agreed that they were not very healthy – managing to sometimes have lunch and snack on chocolate and other items during the day.
At the other end of the scale, the results showed that only 17 percent of professionals manage to eat fairly healthily, making it a point to eat at least two meals during the course of the working day.
Only 8 percent considered themselves as very healthy, sticking to an eating plan during the day that includes four to five small meals.
Amer Zureikat, regional manager, Bayt.com, said: “This is a very important issue for employers to address: aside from the long term implications that eating irregular and unhealthy meals can have on an individual’s health; a poor diet can cause lethargy, loss of concentration and mood and behavioural changes in the workplace, in the short term.”
The Eating Habits in the Middle East Workplace June online poll sought to understand from employees how healthy their diet and lifestyle are at work, and what measures, if any, their employers take to promote health and wellbeing.
The bad eating habits amongst the region’s professionals have led a sizable proportion to gain weight.
The poll found that only 18 percent of professionals have stayed the same weight since they started working, while almost two thirds of professionals, 59 percent, have gained up to 10 kilos or more.
However, weight loss since starting work was also found to be significant among the poll’s respondents: 14 percent of those surveyed said they had lost up to five kilos.
The results showed that 22 percent of respondents get so tired during the day; they are unable to exercise after work.
“That more than a fifth of employees are so exhausted by the time they finish work to the point that they can’t possibly exercise should perhaps send employers’ alarm bells ringing – in terms of how work performance will be affected if employees are tired during the working day to the point where they are incapable of getting active afterwards,” added Zureikat.
The trend of work tiring employees to the point of inactivity continued into employees’ weekends as 29 percent stated that by the end of the week they were too exhausted to put more effort into being active on the weekend.
By contrast, 32 percent of professionals considered themselves as very active and engage in sports and outdoor activities throughout the whole weekend.
When it came to how far employers currently go to promote a healthy lifestyle for employees, the overwhelming message was “not far enough”.
A massive 74 percent said that their company didn’t really do anything to promote a healthy lifestyle.
“It appears that employers should be doing more for promoting the health and wellbeing of their staff, as it can give employees a greater sense of wellbeing and make them happier, more productive and more committed to their work,” said Zureikat.
Data for the poll was collected online between the period of May 31 and July 13, with a total of 12,368 respondents from across the Middle East.
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