Rethinking Efforts to Improve Dietary Patterns Among Long-Haul Truck Drivers: Transforming Truck Stop Retail Food Environments Through Upstream Change

More than the worksite cafeteria: the workplace food environment of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Netherlands

OBJECTIVE

To characterise the food environment of Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), encompassing physical, sociocultural, economic and policy features and to explore variations within SMEs according to company characteristics (number of employees, location of work and presence of worksite cafeteria).

DESIGN

Online cross-sectional survey study of a representative Dutch SME sample by a panel agency.

SETTING

Dutch SMEs.

PARTICIPANTS

Three hundred and fifteen employees of Dutch SMEs responsible for food and drink in their company.

RESULTS

Most SMEs did not have a worksite cafeteria, no provision of fruits or vegetables, and did not offer discounts on food or drinks. The food environment of these SMEs varied significantly based on company characteristics. For example, SMEs with a worksite cafeteria were significantly more likely to have fruits (OR = 8·76, 95 % CI (4·50, 17·06)), vegetables (OR = 10·29, 95 % CI (5·49, 19·31)) and company food policies (OR = 5·04, 95 % CI (2·08, 12·20)) than SMEs without. Additionally, SMEs with ≥ 50 employees were more likely to have fruits (OR = 2·39, 95 % CI (1·42, 4·03)), vegetables (OR = 1·89, 95 % CI (1·04, 3·46)) and company food policies (OR = 2·82, 95 % CI (1·09, 7·29) than SMEs with < 50 employees. Moreover, having a worksite cafeteria (B = 0·23, 95 % CI (0·08, 0·38)) and employees working mostly on-site (B = 0·14, 95 % CI (0·01, 0·28)) were associated with stronger social norms of healthy and sustainable eating at work compared to SMEs without a worksite cafeteria and working mostly off-site.

CONCLUSIONS

In SMEs, an overall comprehensive picture of the food environment points to its limited active encouragement of healthy food choices, particularly so in small SMEs without a worksite cafeteria. Company characteristics strongly influence SME food environments and should be considered when developing interventions improving SME workplace food environments.

Health Comparisons Between Truck Drivers and the General Population Using the Canadian Community Health Survey

BACKGROUND

This study examined and compared risk factors and health conditions of truck drivers compared with the general Canadian population.

METHODS

This study used the Canadian Community Health Survey consisting of 991 male truck drivers and 29,958 male respondents of the general population.

RESULTS

Compared with the general population, truck drivers were older, less educated, had lower incomes, worked more hours, and were more likely to be widowed/separated/divorced. In addition, truck drivers had significantly higher rates of cardiovascular disease and obesity and were more likely to be sedentary, smoke, drive when fatigued, and eat unhealthy compared with the general population.

CONCLUSIONS

Multicomponent interventions are needed to address the poor lifestyle practices of truckers to reduce the high rates of morbidity.