There are a lot of reasons why we should promote healthy eating in the workplace. Eating healthy food helps us go about our day with more energy and contributes to general health and wellbeing. Good nutrition also plays a role in preventing and managing chronic diseases like obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

What we eat plays a major role in our health, our mood, and our ability to maintain energy and concentration while at work.

Generally a healthy diet, as outlined in the Australian Dietary Guidelines1 includes a wide variety of the five food groups with a focus on:

  • eating plenty of fruits and vegetables
  • avoiding foods and drinks that are high in added sugar, salt, saturated fat and alcohol drinking more water
  • eating the right amount of food to meet
  • your body’s essential needs.

Currently, less than 1 in 10 South Australian adults eat the recommended serves of vegetables (at least 5 per day, note that the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend men aged 19-70 have between 5.5 and 6 serves) and less than half eat enough servings of fruit
(2 per day).2

Barriers to building healthy eating habits can include access, affordability and knowledge. This may look like:

  • lack of affordable, healthy food options from surrounding food outlets, onsite food services, vending machines, or while travelling for work
  • lack of food preparation and storage facilities
  • a poor understanding of healthy food options, budget planning or preparation methods
  • the culturally accepted or encouraged eating patterns of the workplace
  • shift work practices
  • limited healthy food options during meetings and function catering.

Actions that you can take to improve nutrition in your workplace

Healthy vision — create polices, practice and a workplace culture that supports healthy eating

  • Incorporate healthy food options into a healthy food and drink policy for all worksites. The policy could include: catering for functions, meetings, and social occasions; vending machines, onsite canteens or food kiosks; and whether alcohol can be served and what drinks, including water, are available.
  • Create a breastfeeding policy and include a dedicated breastfeeding space for return-to-work mothers (where relevant). Become accredited with Australian Breastfeeding Association’s Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Initiative.3
  • Include healthy food and drink policy information in staff induction packages.
  • Provide flexible work hours (start, finish and lunch times) to accommodate and encourage healthy eating throughout the day (e.g. encouraging workers to eat away from their desks).

Healthy places — create a workplace environment conducive to nutrition

  • Provide drinking water (water fountain or filtered water tap).
  • Provide a breastfeeding/expressing room equipped with fridge to store expressed milk and washing facilities (or a room that can be booked for this use over the day).
  • Provide safe and clean food storage and preparation facilities for workers (e.g. fridge, freezer, microwave, kettle).
  • Provide safe and clean food storage and preparation facilities for offsite workers (e.g. eskies, cooler bags, thermoses, water esky cooler).
  • Provide workplace environments that encourage healthy eating (e.g. a pleasant and clean kitchen space, shaded areas outside
    the workplace building).
  • Negotiate to remove sources of foods and drinks high in added sugars, salt, alcohol and saturated fat (e.g. biscuit jars, soft drinks, alcohol, crisps, potato chips, chocolates, doughnuts or cake at regular morning tea, meetings or events) from the workplace.
  • Provide healthy alternatives in onsite vending machines (e.g. mixed nuts, dried fruit and bottled water). Negotiate with vending machine owners to supply healthier options.

Healthy people — raise awareness within the workplace about the benefits of healthy eating

  • Communicate healthy food options and nutrition topics via fact sheets, newsletters, intranet, posters, and print materials.
  • Recommend individuals seek specific dietary advice from a qualified health professional, such as an Accredited Practising Dietitian listed with Dietitians Australia (dietitiansaustralia.org.au).
  • Promote your workplace program widely and inform employees of access options and topics. Workplace employee assistance programs (EAP) can often help with goal-setting and behavioural change.
  • Promote links to local food providers (e.g. markets that sell local produce and food co-ops) that stock healthy options within your intranet or newsletters.
  • Invite a health professional to run onsite seminars or cooking demonstrations on making healthy food, budget-friendly recipes, and meal preparation.
  • Promote and provide work time to access the free Better Health Coaching Service.
  • Initiate healthy food or non-food related fundraisers when fundraising and make sure that morning teas include healthy food and drink options.
  • Host workplace challenges such as healthy lunch competitions and fruit and vegetable weekly challenges. Encourage team or multi-site competition with incentives.
  • Sponsor the production of a healthy food cookbook with staff recipes. Consider using it as a fundraiser.
  • Establish a partnership with your local greengrocer to access fresh and affordable produce.
  • Provide regular fruit and vegetable boxes in the workplace.

More resources to help you take action

Nutrition resource referral guide (DOCX, 507.9 KB)

The Preventive Health SA Healthy Food Environments Hub has great information and tips on ways to create healthy food environments which can support staff to access healthy food.

The Better Health Coaching Service is a free, evidence based, confidential telephone program designed to support South Australians to be active, eat well and reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Dieticians Australia is the peak body for dietitians in Australia providing credible and evidence-based nutrition information and advice. Their site includes a library of the latest articles on a wide range of nutrition-related health issues and a link to a list of accredited practicing dietitians.

1 Eat for Health, Australian guide to healthy eating, Australian Government Eat for Health, n.d., accessed October 2022. eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating; Eat for Health, Discretionary food and drink choices, Australian Government Eat for Health, n.d., accessed October 2022. eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/discretionary-food-and-drink-choices; Wellbeing SA, Healthy food and nutrition, Government of South Australia, n.d., accessed October 2022. preventivehealth.sa.gov.au/our-agency/obesity-prevention/healthy-food-nutrition; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Dietary Guidelines, NHMRC, 2013.

2 The South Australian population health survey (SAPHS), 2019 Annual Report: Adults, Prevention and Population Health Branch Wellbeing SA, 2019.

3 Australian Breastfeeding Association, Breastfeeding friendly workplaces, Australian Breastfeeding Association [website], n.d., accessed October 2022.