Effects of an intervention in the workplace food environment

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of an intervention to reduce the energy density of meals in the workplace food environment.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted on a cosmetics manufacturer that employed 243 people, and was divided into three phases: diagnostic evaluation; development and testing of modifications to the energy density of the preparations; and evaluation of the results obtained. To evaluate the menus, the Meal Quality Index was used. This index consists of five components ranging from 0 to 20 points: “Adequacy of availability of vegetable and fruit”, “Carbohydrate availability”, “Total fat availability”, “Saturated fat availability” and “Menu variability”. The Kruskal‐Wallis test was used to evaluate differences in phases 1 and 3.FindingsThe classification, according to the scores for the Meal Quality Index, showed that there was an improvement in the menus, with a decrease in inadequate menus from 31 per cent to 5 per cent and in menus needing improvement from 44 per cent to 29 per cent.Originality/valueChanges that are relatively simple to implement and reproduce regarding meal production may contribute towards controlling the obesity epidemic, through discouraging the obesogenic environment, especially among captive healthy customers such as workers who use the food services in their workplaces.