Lunchtime habits of UK workforce revealed

An increasing number of UK workers are not taking their full, hour-long, lunch break at work, with 59% of employees only managing to take a thirty-minute break.

Research from Benenden revealed that only a fifth of employees take their full lunch hour, and one in four employees eat at their desk five times a week, with 40% of those blaming ‘too much work’.

Staff in the South East of England and East Anglia had the shortest lunch breaks; in contrast to 40% of those in Scotland who took their full lunch hour.

Despite heavy literature and increased awareness surrounding health and wellbeing, only seven per cent of workers choose to exercise in their free time. Over half of the respondents (56%) cited work as an obstacle to keeping active, with more than 73% of people saying that their employer fails to encourage it.