Work site food purchases among healthcare staff: Relationship with healthy eating and opportunities for intervention.

Abstract

AimThe current study describes food‐purchasing behaviours of healthcare staff, determines whether purchasing food at work is associated with overall indicators of healthy eating, and explores opportunities for improving the hospital food environment.MethodsA secondary analysis of a health and wellbeing survey of healthcare workers (n = 501) in Queensland, Australia. Multiple regression models describe the associations between food purchases and indicators of healthy eating, while controlling for age, gender and work role.ResultsMore than 60% of staff purchased food/drinks at work in the past week, and this was inversely associated with indicators of healthy eating. For example, among those purchasing food/drinks at work on most days, only 18% reported their overall diet as excellent or very good, compared to 50% of those who do not purchase food/drink at work (odds ratio [OR] = 0.24; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.12,0.48] in adjusted models). Staff feedback prioritised strategies to make healthy meals more accessible and affordable.ConclusionImprovements to the retail food environment in hospitals could have a positive impact on the overall nutritional wellbeing of staff.