Half of workers too busy and lazy to exercise

Half of Irish people believe they are less healthy than 20 years ago because they don’t have the time or the motivation to exercise, it emerged today.

The new Nutrition and Health Foundation today launched its Workplace Well-being Programme – a structured initiative to promote nutrition, exercise and sport within companies.

In a survey commissioned by the NHF, 50% of respondents said they had no time or motivation to exercise.

“The modern consumer leads an extremely busy life, with longer working hours and commuting times leaving less and less time for engaging in physical activity or for cooking the traditional family meal,” said NHF manager Dr Louise Sullivan.

The Workplace Well-being Programme includes tips for healthy eating and integrating exercise into the working day.

The NHF survey showed that 76% of people believe that their workplace does not encourage physical activity during the day or outside working hours.

“This clearly indicates an important role for employers in ensuring that healthy lifestyles are promoted in the workplace, so that people can integrate healthy eating and active exercise into their daily lives,” said Dr Sullivan.

The NHF was launched in January 2005 as an innovative multi-stakeholder approach to addressing the health challenges of the nation.

Funded by the food and drink industry, it aims to provide consumers with evidence-based information on diet and physical activity to enable them to make healthier lifestyle choices.

The NHF survey, which was carried out on a sample of 1,000 adults and 200 children across Ireland in April and May, also found:

: 87% of people are happy with their own health.

:: 56% of people believe that their diet is ’about right’ and 28% believe that it only needs to be a little better

:: 99% of consumers say that they have a typical main meal every day

:: 47% of people believe that they are taking enough exercise and 31% claimed that they only need to take a little more exercise

:: 69% of working adults travel to work by car, 21% walk and only 6% take public transport

:: 76% of people say that their workplace does not encourage physical activity during or outside working hours.

:: However, the majority (55%) say that if their employer offered a healthy lifestyle programme, they would participate in it.