National Nutrition Month: Improve Your Workplace Eating Habits

March is National Nutrition Month, a time for teaching everyone how to eat healthy and lead healthier lives with nutrition. Many businesses think the only way to improve office nutrition is to offer a nutritious cafeteria. But Spaces has come up with some creative ways to encourage better workplace eating habits.

Photo credit:Jim Crocker / Foter / CC BY-SA

Make the Kitchen AppealingEmployees need an excuse to get up and walk around throughout the day and a seductable kitchen is one of them. When a kitchen is very clean and well-lit, employees will be more encourage to use the space. Bringing a lunch in is much healthier than eating out for lunch. To keep it clean, you can either hire someone to clean the kitchen twice a day or encourage respect in the kitchen space by having employees clean up their own mess (not an easy task, we know!).Gravity suggests you make the kitchen with durable materials that are easy to clean. An open kitchen with plenty of room will also draw people in and will encourage social interactions between more of your employees.Keep the Kitchen StockedWhile you don’t have to provide full on meals for your employees, it is a good idea to offer healthy freebies to your workers. Not only does free food and drinks make employees happier at work, but if you choose nutritious options you can create a healthier culture.First, make cold and filtered water easily accessible. GenslerOnWork explains that water is actually a better combat to fatigue than coffee or soda and it is a healthier option. While it would be a sin to eliminate coffee, make sure water is an appealing option. Second, instead of choosing chips and candy bars for vending machine snacks, offer fruits and veggies in the kitchen along with other healthy snacks.A Healthier Michigan outlines the components of a healthy workplace snack. They explain that a good snack should be high in protein and low in saturated fat. High protein is important for keeping you full longer without extra bad fat. The calories ideally shouldn’t exceed 180.By making the kitchen design appealing and offering healthy options there, you can celebrate National Nutrition Month in the workplace. You will find, not only healthier employees, but happier people.