Working people are more likely to be prone to harmful snacks when working hard

Chocolate bars and Co: Stress sufferers increasingly resort to unhealthy snacks
According to a recent study, working people who have stress in their job often turn to sweets in between. Now it will be investigated whether technical aids such as smartphones can contribute to a healthier diet.

Self-control while eating
The fact that stress reduces our self-control in eating has already been shown in numerous scientific studies. Recently, US scientists have reported that stress at work often causes affected workers to engage in fast food. And in a recently published study by psychologists at the University of Mannheim, it turned out that people who have stress at work often snack sweets in between.

Working people who are in a stressful position are now snacking on unhealthy snacks such as sweets, according to a recent study. (Image: Boyarkina Marina / fotolia.com)

Light diet on a stressful day at work
Be it the heat or the beach figure - especially in summer, many people consciously opt for a healthy, light diet.

But even in stressful working conditions, working people manage to forego the ice cream in the afternoon and instead pick up the apple?

A team of Mannheimer work and organizational psychologists headed by Prof. Dr. med. Sabine Sonnentag in a recent study published in the "Journal of Applied Psychology".

Use unhealthy snacks to compensate for the bad mood
According to a statement from the university, the survey asked 247 professionals from different organizations about their working conditions and their snacking behavior.

The result: The professionals are particularly likely to unhealthy snacks such as ice cream or chocolate bars, if they want to compensate for their bad mood. This in turn is often triggered by high work demands and stress at work.

"If they have to work hard together to accomplish their tasks, many people find it more difficult to do without unhealthy snacks," Professor Sonnentag explained.

The cravings for sweets then obviously increase. And so, on such days, people are increasingly turning to sweets in the workplace.

Healthy diet in the company
For fruit and other healthy snacks, however, the participants were more likely to take days when they wanted to pay special attention to their health.

"Interestingly enough, the desire for a healthy diet does not diminish just because you are exposed to high demands," explained Professor Sonnentag.

For example, it seems easier for working people to enjoy healthy snacks on stressful days, when a healthy diet is exemplified in the company and promoted by the employer.

How we can eat healthier
Currently the team led by Prof. Dr. med. Sabine Sonnentag carried out another study on snacking and physical activity in everyday working life.

The researchers are investigating how smartphones and movement trackers can help them to eat healthier lives in their daily work.

"In doing so, we want to examine exactly where the hurdles for healthier behavior in everyday working life lie and how smart technologies can be used to live healthier lives," says Sonnentag.

But there are also already known various ways that help if we crave the cravings for sweets.

So it often helps with lasting stress in the job, to have a clarifying conversation with the boss or colleagues, to make work processes different and to be able to work in the truest sense of the word "carefree". (Ad)