Eating Right and Healthy at the Workplace and Beyond - Sodexo India
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” - Hippocrates
The first issue of the India State-level Disease Burden Trends report was published late last year, and the findings are a revelation into India’s changing lifestyle. Although there has been a rise in life expectancy, this has been contrasted by a significant increase in deaths due to non-communicable diseases like cardiac arrests, brain strokes, diabetes, and chronic pulmonary and kidney diseases. In the year 2016 itself, NCDs contributed 55% to the total disease burden. In the same year, three of the five leading individual causes of disease burden in India were non-communicable, with ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as the top two causes. Not surprisingly, the findings point an accusing finger towards a compromised diet, consisting of fewer vegetables and fruits and more fats and salt.
In a country where human capital is the most valuable resource, ensuring a better health status of its citizens is critical if we want to achieve our full development potential. And considering that the average working Indian spends around 1/3rd of his life in office and eats at least 2 meals there, this is alarming especially for corporate India. While we are spending millions of rupees on employee engagement – with workshops, training programs, rewards and benefits, etc, are we overlooking the one factor that’s critical to our employee’s well-being - good health?
The key to good health is a good, nutritious meal that can energize employees, keep them in high spirits, decrease stress levels and improve overall physical and mental health. Wholesome and delicious food makes employees look forward to a long day at work and keeps them more alert and productive. Research has also proven that encouraging communal meals makes employees open up, vent frustrations, exchange ideas and bond. Instead of grabbing a quick bite in between meetings, they can enjoy their food, and then use the break to take a power walk and de-stress. Healthy meal options at work can help them make smarter meal choices; and inculcate the same healthy living habits in their personal lives as well. Taking a cue, smart organizations across the world are running highly relevant campaigns, arranging workshops with dieticians and nutritionists and floating internal newsletters with diet tips, to ensure employees stay healthy – physically and mentally.
Thus a good work culture needs to ensure the wellbeing of every employee by brainstorming for creative and healthy meal ideas. In these days of easy camaraderie and workplace-bonding, meals are no longer prosaic; on the contrary mealtimes are fertile grounds for ideas to germinate. In addition to providing healthier meal options, meal times can also be pepped up by inviting chefs to customize meals and cook live for the staff, getting a dietician to talk to them about their individual needs, organizing healthy cooking contests, providing employees with customized menu etc.
This is exactly where we at Sodexo come in. Years of experience in creating inspiring work cultures has taught us that the buck stops at one place – good, wholesome and nutritious food. This takeaway has become the cornerstone of our food services. Be it our Wellness Charter, Traffic Food Lights concept, providing nutritious meals or even delegating onsite nutritionists to educate people about the right eating habits, wellness quotient is at the top of our agenda to provide a better quality of life. Pledging our support for FSSAI’s ‘Eat Right Movement’, we are doing our bit to make India healthier, one step at a time.