Healthy diet

Just a quick snack. An energy drink to get through a long day. Unhealthy choices are still often the easiest choices, especially during a busy working day. Yet a healthy and well-balanced diet is an important building block of a healthy lifestyle. It not only reduces the risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but also has a demonstrable impact on your energy, concentration, and mental resilience. After all, that afternoon energy dip immediately affects focus and productivity.

Employees with unhealthy eating habits are also more likely to experience:

• Reduced resistance to infections and absenteeism

• Lack of focus and energy dips throughout the day

• Poorer sleep quality

• Higher level of mental and physical exhaustion

• Less efficient physical work and slower recovery

So, it pays to encourage healthier food choices and integrate a healthy diet into the workplace – not by pointing fingers, but by making these choices easier.

What is a healthy diet?

1. The food pyramid

The pyramid has been turned upside-down, but is still used as a guideline. The basics: choose plenty of whole-grain cereals, vegetables, fruit, legumes, and nuts. Supplement these with dairy products, fish, and poultry. Consume as little alcohol, sugary drinks, and red meat as possible.

ℹ️ Did you know… only 7% of Belgian adults eat the recommended minimum of 300 g of vegetables per day?

2. The right balance

A healthy diet means a combination of the right foods. A well-balanced meal consists of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Employees who maintain a healthy balance have demonstrably more energy, more stable blood sugar levels, and fewer energy dips.

3. Avoid ultra-processed foods and added sugars

Ultra-processed foods like soft drinks, ready-to-eat meals, crisps, biscuits, and processed meat are strongly linked to various health risks. They also often contain added ‘empty’ sugars: sugars that are added, but unlike natural sugars (fruits and vegetables), do not contain any nutrients.

4. Adequate hydration

Water is the source of all life, right? That includes human beings. Drink 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day to stay sufficiently hydrated.

How can you support your employees?

Inform and inspire

With so many cookbooks out there, you would think there is enough information on a healthy diet available, but unfortunately, this is not the case in reality. As an HR specialist or manager, you can contribute to boosting knowledge and motivation when it comes to healthy food choices. You can inform your employees about what a well-balanced meal means and how they can tailor their eating habits to their work rhythm, such as shift work or peak period work, or those who are often on the road with a company car.

Tip: Keep things simple. Use the food pyramid as a starting point or organise (brief) info sessions on healthy meal preparation, reading food labels, or avoiding sugary snacks. Another possibility is to share a monthly tip on the intranet or hang up infographics.

Activate: enable healthy choices in the workplace

The easiest choice is the fastest choice. Organise the work environment so that healthy choices are logical and accessible (nudging). For example, fill vending machines with more nutritious choices like nuts or fresh or dried fruit. Make sure there are enough water points in your company or have the company restaurant offer well-balanced meals with plenty of vegetables, whole-grain products, and plant-based proteins. And why not replace the chips stand at company events with a salad bar?