Busy workers abandon traditional lunch break

UNDER pressure workers on both sides of the Border have abandoned the traditional lunch hour, a report revealed yesterday.

Staff are snatching sandwiches rather than taking a proper break, according to a survey of eating habits, while nutritionists have warned that skipping meals altogether due to mounting workloads puts health at risk.

The average break is just 31 minutes, business and industry caterer Eurest’s Lunchtime Report 2006 discovered.

The study found only one in five in Northern Ireland stop what they are doing for a full hour.

Workers in the Republic managed to get away for slightly longer — 38 minutes on average.

Nearly a third (32%) take up to 60 minutes off, while the average lunch break was 38 minutes.

Angela McComb, senior manager for nutrition and public health at the Health Promotion Agency in Northern Ireland, said she was pleased that seven out of 10 people in the North do take time out for food — even if it was short.

She also urged workers to aim for a 10-15 minute lunchtime walk to boost energy, control weight, deal with stress and strengthen the heart.

Being too busy was the main reason for not taking a longer break given by those surveyed in both Northern Ireland (49%) and the Republic of Ireland (35%).

Nevertheless, the lunch break is still more popular with Irish workers than in Britain, where they take an average of just 28 minutes for lunch. In fact, 15% of British workers do not take lunch breaks at all.