Cake Culture in Work Place Fuels Obesity and Tooth Decay

Highlights

• Cake culture in office contributes to poor oral health and the obesity epidemic.
• It has become popular for workers to offer birthday cake to colleagues or bring back sugary gifts from their holidays.
• We need a culture change in offices and other workplaces that encourages healthy eating and helps workers avoid caving in to sweet temptations.

Off-late there is a growing trend where staff bring in treats for birthdays and celebrations is becoming a daily health hazard and should be stopped, experts have advised. It has become popular for workers to offer birthday cake to colleagues or bring back sugary gifts from their holidays.

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) have warned that in large offices, sweets and cakes have become a daily occurrence and the growing trend is contributing to poor oral health and the obesity epidemic.

Managers want to reward staff for their efforts, colleagues want to celebrate special occasions and workers want to bring back a gift from their holidays. While these sweet treats might be well meaning, they are also contributing to the current obesity epidemic and poor oral health.

“We need a culture change in offices and other workplaces that encourages healthy eating and helps workers avoid caving in to sweet temptations such as cakes, sweets and biscuits.”

Biscuits and cakes should also be kept for lunchtime rather than snacking throughout the day and if workers do bring in treats, they should consider buying low sugar alternatives and smaller sizes.

Employers should help their staff to make healthier choices by substituting sugary products available in meetings, like biscuits, for lower sugar alternatives, such as plain nuts and fruit, removing high sugar products from vending machines and making sugary products less visible in canteens.

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Source-Medindia