New research has revealed which British workers are most prone to snacking on junk food, finding that people working in healthcare are the worst contenders of all, followed by those in transport and IT. Furthermore, 43% of British workers admit to eating more junk food per day than healthy snacks.

The team at www.vouchercloud.com polled 2,688 Britons, all of whom were aged 18 and over, as part of the research. All respondents had stated that they had been in full time employment for a minimum of 12 months in order to be eligible for the survey and disclosed the industry in which they worked.

Initially, all respondents were asked ‘How many meals do you eat per day?’ to which just over half of respondents, 53%, stated ‘three meals’. Those who stated they ate less than three meals (31%) were asked why, to which the most common reasons were ‘I don’t have the time’ (43%) and ‘I forget to eat meals’ (26%).

The respondents were then asked ‘Do you tend to eat healthy snacks, such as fruit, or junk food, such as crisps and chocolate when snacking during the day?’ to which two fifths of respondents, 43%, admitted they ate ‘more junk food than healthy snacks’, whilst the remaining respondents either ate ‘roughly a 50/50 mix’ (29%) or ‘more healthy snacks than junk food’ (20%). 8% of respondents stated that they ‘do not snack at all’. 

Wanting to delve a little deeper, all respondents were then asked to state roughly how many calories they thought they consumed per day from junk food alone. Once collated, the results were split according to the sector in which the respondent worked and analysed to find the average junk food calorie intake. The the top 10 junk-food-loving sectors were revealed as follows:

1.      Healthcare – 1,595 (calories in junk food per day)

2.      Transportation – 1,345

3.      IT – 1,219

4.      Care & support work – 1,103

5.      Customer service – 959

6.      Construction – 918

7.      Telecommunications – 812

8.      Retail – 781

9.      Banking – 752

10.  Hospitality – 743

 

According to the poll, those respondents who preferred junk food to healthy snacks stated it was because junk food is ‘more accessible’ (35%), ‘cheaper’ (31%) and ‘tastes nicer’ (23%).