The Hindu Business Line : Eat well to... work well!

Nearly a billion people across the world are undernourished, while over one billion are overweight or obese... a stark contrast between the haves and have-nots. A new International Labour Organisation (ILO) book, Food at Work — Workplace Solutions for Malnutrition, Obesity and Chronic Diseases, presents this disquieting scenario.

It stresses that unhealthy eating practices at workplaces will result in a staggering blow to productivity and health. There is about 30 per cent impairment in physical work capacity and performance reported in people with iron deficiency or hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), which can occur when one skips a meal. It shortens attention span and slows the speed at which human beings process information. Iron deficiency affects up to half the world's population, predominantly in the developing world. The book addresses a simple question: How do workers eat while at work? It observes that employers do not give much thought to this question, though it is in their interest to provide their workforce nourishing food or at least access to healthy food in order to maximise productivity. ILO's Sub-regional Director Leyla Tegmo-Reddy says in South Asia iron deficiency accounts for a loss of $5 billion in productivity. "Employers bear the cost of lost productivity, whether this arises from reduced output by sluggish workers or sickness, disability, absenteeism or premature death."

Food at work

Work, instead of being accommodating, could also become a hindrance to proper nutrition. Most canteens offer an unhealthy and unvaried selection. Vending machines are stocked with unhealthy snacks, while local restaurants are expensive and street foods bacteria-laden.

The importance of food at work is reflected in the Millennium Development Goals, which set targets of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and those without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. But the grim reality is that workers sometimes have no time or place to eat, or no money to purchase food.

The book also highlights the gender dimension to this problem. Women of childbearing age are particularly at risk of low blood iron and access to healthy food at work during pregnancy and nursing. The right to nurse at work and adequate rest will also help ensure better health for the baby and mother, it stresses.

"When this is added to cultural practices, which often result in women receiving the smallest share of whatever food is available at home — after their husbands and children — it can be seen how important the need for access to sufficient food at work is," adds Tegmo-Reddy.

A healthy initiative

The book presents positive examples of how governments, employers and unions are trying to improve the nutritional status of workers. In wealthier countries — where obesity and related chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and kidney problems are common — examples are given of employers offering healthier menus or better access to healthier foods, such as on-site farmers' markets. In developing and emerging economies, where hunger and micronutrient deficiencies such as anaemia are epidemic, there are instances of employers offering free, well-balanced meals or access to safer street food.

The West Bengal Government has found praise in the book for what is described as the "Calcutta model", wherein the State Government and street food vendors have joined hands to improve hygiene and infrastructure and thus provide clean, nutritious street food to the city's workers.

The model is based on a case study by Indira Chakravarty, Dean - Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, who found that workers in the informal sector have no option but to eat street food.

Vendors, however, had little knowledge of basic hygiene and illegal food additives, thereby jeopardising workers' nutrition. The study revealed that both the government and vendors were willing to improve the situation, with vendors agreeing to zoning, unions agreeing to training and the government agreeing to infrastructure improvements like more rubbish bins and potable water sources, as well as low-interest loans. The model has since spread to neighbouring areas, Chakravarty adds.

As per the Factories Act, 1948, employers are required to provide canteens at establishments that have more than 250 employees. Companies can bypass this rule by offering vouchers. A case in point is the TELCO factory in Mumbai, whose management decided to provide tickets to employees to purchase lunch in the dozen or so eating places close to the factory. However, some of these were not very clean and the food not nutritious; so TELCO created coupons of a set value that could be used at better restaurants.

The bottom line, says Dr Arjun Sengupta, Member of Parliament and Honorary Advisor, National Commission on Enterprises for the Unorganised/Informal Sector, is not for employers to just open canteens or provide food vouchers. They must look into the whole question of nutrition deficiency and work out the costs of providing these to their employees.

He feels the voucher system could address the issues of malnutrition and iron deficiency in India because "it (voucher) has specific items which provide the nutrition". He also favours canteens, but adds that employers need to work with unions and the government to explore viable, economical options on providing food at the workplace without compromising on hygiene and nutrition.

Nutrition is a wise company investment, Food at Work advises employers. In industrialised nations, employers are increasingly aware that merely providing a meal programme or access to food can be counterproductive if that food is not healthy. Employers in developing countries need to wisen up, as "good nutrition will make for a stronger, better-equipped workforce that, in the long run, will make their company and country more competitive and more attractive to investors."

Women's Feature Service