A dietician within BUPA's health and nutrition team, Anika Podubinski, said with people working longer hours than ever before, the health and wellbeing of employees has never been more paramount.

"We've introduced things like the Food Switch app, healthier vending machines and the traffic light system that categorises foods and drinks into three groups based on their nutritional value," she said.

Half the workforce overweight

Advocate group That Sugar Movement has been running pre and post-program assessments and blood tests for employees of companies to assess blood glucose, liver health, lipid and cholesterol levels, diet, stress, sleep and general wellbeing.

Their latest evaluations across six companies and 291 people employees shows that nearly half (52 per cent) were found to have blood levels out of range, indicating issues such as high cholesterol and poor liver function.

Major companies are getting rid of vending machines and offering healthier alternatives. AP

Over half (56 per cent) consumed poor breakfast choices and nearly half (46 per cent) ate lunch at their desk.

Only 3.5 per cent were aware they had existing health issues relating to their work blood tests, nearly half (39 per cent) sourced their nutrition information from the internet rather than consulting a medical professional and more than half (54 per cent) were classified as either overweight or obese.


That Sugar Movement claims poor diet and inactivity are the predominant factors for two in three adults being overweight or obese.

While libertarians will be alarmed that employers could dictate what their staff eat, the group warns that the estimated cost of absenteeism and presenteeism (not fully functioning at work because of a medical condition) in Australia is $44 billion.

Advocate groups claim employee bad eating is contributing to absenteeism and presenteeism, costing the country billions in lost productivity. istock photos

"Billions of dollars are annually lost in productivity, which is why employers are becoming more and more committed to the wellbeing of their employees," co-founder of That Sugar Movement Vera Skocic said.

"In the past, a lot of organisations have focused more on occupational health and safety, but in more recent years they have realised it's factors such as nutrition and overall employee wellbeing that are linked to workplace productivity," she said.