Employer Actions in Office Settings and Women's Perception of the Workplace as Supportive of Healthy Eating: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.

Abstract

Background/objectives: This study aimed to evaluate how women working in office environments perceive their workplace as promoting healthy eating behaviors through employer-led actions.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 professionally active women employed in office settings in Poland. Data were collected using the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) method. Participants were divided into two groups based on their perceived level of workplace support for healthy eating behaviors, as measured by the Workplace Healthy Eating Scale. Group 1 (n = 125; 54.3%; mean score = 15.69, SD = 3.76) and Group 2 (n = 105; 45.7%; mean score = 29.88, SD = 5.15) reflected low and high perceived support, respectively.

Results: A linear regression model was employed to assess the association between the perceived level of support and specific workplace initiatives, including access to fresh fruits and vegetables, meal preparation facilities, cafeteria usage, lectures on nutrition, cooking workshops, and individual dietary consultations. For Group 1, access to fresh fruits and vegetables was the only factor significantly associated with a positive perception of the workplace as promoting healthy eating (p = 0.003), explaining 6.5% of the variance (adjusted R² = 0.065). In Group 2, both access to fresh produce and participation in cooking workshops were significantly associated with positive workplace perceptions (p < 0.001), explaining 41% of the variance (adjusted R² = 0.410).

Conclusions: Access to fresh produce is a key determinant of employees' perceptions of workplace support for healthy eating behaviors, with a notably greater impact observed when combined with additional activities such as cooking workshops. Employer-led initiatives focusing on practical dietary engagement appear to be effective in enhancing workplace perceptions of health promotion.