Having lunch at the staff canteen and plant food consumption among 19-39-year-old Finnish employees.

Background: Having lunch at the staff canteen has been shown to be associated with daily food consumption and generally healthier food habits in employed populations but associations with the consumption of different types of plant foods have not been investigated. This study among Finnish municipal employees examined whether having lunch at the staff canteen is associated with the consumption of a range of plant foods including fruit, berries, fresh and cooked vegetables and wholegrain bread.

Methods: Survey data from the Helsinki Health Study among female and male 19-39-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland, were used. The survey was conducted in 2017 (N = 5898, response rate 51.5%). A food frequency questionnaire was used to inquire about the overall consumption of food items during the last four weeks, with frequency categories ranging from 'not during the past 4 weeks' to 'two times or more daily'. Variables of daily/non-daily consumption and consumption times/four weeks were formed for each plant food item. Having lunch at the staff canteen was used as a dichotomy of 'yes/no'. Covariates included socioeconomic circumstances and working conditions. Logistic regression modelling was used for analysing the associations.

Results: Employees who usually had lunch at the staff canteen (39%) consumed vegetables, but not berries, fruit or whole grain bread, more frequently than those who did not Having lunch at the staff canteen was associated with daily (vs. non-daily) consumption of both fresh vegetables (women OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.63-2.28; men OR 2.18, 1.68-2.83) and cooked vegetables (women OR 1.29, 1.11-1.51; men OR 1.75, 1.23-2.50). The observed associations remained after adjustments for socioeconomic circumstances and working conditions.

Conclusions: Having lunch at the staff canteen was associated with more frequent fresh and cooked vegetable consumption. The results warrant further studies, including interventions, investigating whether and how staff canteens could promote the consumption of plant foods among employees.