Research Proposal on "Nutrition as a Means of Increasing Productivity Within a Workplace"

Research Proposal 15 pages (4735 words) Sources: 50

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Nutrition as a Means of Increasing Productivity Within a Workplace

Nutrition: Current Dynamics and Economics

With the changing dynamics and demands of the business world it is important to alter the necessities provided to the employees. One of the recent focuses on an important necessity has been the nutritional intake of the employees within the workplace. This is the focus of the paper as we analyze the economical advantages that appropriate nutrition can bring to the overall employee performance in the short and the long run. One relative focus will be on the impact that globalization and technological changes have had on the health of the current and future business employees.

The fact of the matter is that the advanced scientific proofs and technology has developed the human mind in various ways and one such ways is the increased understanding of the importance of nutrition in boosting one's overall performance. Owen and Roberts in their study highlight that the alterations that nutritional changes can bring in the business structure can significantly helping decreasing the dissatisfaction and anxiety or stress levels of the employees while simultaneously improve the overall working environment as many of the nutritional changes, like incorporation of fruits and vegetable in the cafeteria menu which will be explained further on, are linked to positive and pleasant impacts on the personality of individuals. Furthermore, they have linked nutritional changes directly to the decrease in the absenteeism levels, increase in the motivations as well as the long-term production levels of the company.

Another study analyzing the importance that is given to nutrition by American employees showed that nearly 60% of the American employees have been utilizing the legitimate thirty minute time span for their lunch breaks which has been directly linked to decreasing levels of cardiovascular problems and has increased the job satisfaction levels amongst these employees. A related article showed that there were at least another 60% of American population in different districts reported high and regular levels of shortening or missing their lunches on a daily basis while other similar studies have shown that nearly 20-25% of the business employees completely skipped their lunch breaks. Below is a table explaining how the various nutritional inputs instigate certain outputs that further result in different positive outcomes.

INPUT

OUTPUT

Improved nutrition for basic metabolism boost

Higher capability to perform

Better overall Daily Nutritional Intake

Higher Salary and improved packages

Higher Salary

Work Capability increases and curves above the 45 degree angle

Work capability moves above 45 degrees

Overall productivity and employee satisfaction increases

The above table, even though is not supported with hard and mathematically backed evidence or stats, it is still widely to be accepted as true mainly because common sense proclaims that a healthier individual will be mentally and physically stronger to perform at an optimum level over a long period of time. A study conducted by the Council for Responsible Nutrition highlighted that the Health Care Financing Administration in Washington exhibited stats that proved that nutrition was being taken as a serious input in increased productivity as the annual finance allocated to the health care department increased 57% from $247 billion in 1980 to $387 billion within a space of 4 years only. Another study showed that when health care wasn't given its due attention then the loss of the workdays and finances was humungous. The 1982 stats showed a loss of 270,583,000 working days to various diseases and the overall reactionary costs in terms of health insurances and overall decreased productivity was more then the finance allocated to health care that year.

Some of the most efficient and productive nutrition advocate agencies within the United States include: 1) Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), 2) Community Food Resource Center (CFRC), 3) Consumer's Union, Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), 4) American Public Health Association (APHA), 5) International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 6) American Culinary Federation, 7) International Association of Culinary Professionals, 8) Council for Responsible Nutrition, 9) Food Marketing Institute, 10) International Food Information Council (IFIC), 11) American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), 12) American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS), 13) Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), 14) International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS), 15) National Council Against Health Fraud, etc.

Below is a table that exhibits some of the stats of poor nutrition rates, the obese and overweight Americans and financial or economical ratios that cost the government annually due to poor nutrition:

Population

Economics

Obese or underfed

One billion and over (rising since 2006)

7-9% of total health care finance allocated here / U.S. $12.7 billion allocated by the business sector to counter

Reactionary financial costs of Cardiovascular Diseases (2002)

Over half a million (with 30% deaths out of the total)

US $392.2 billion

Reactionary financial costs of general illnesses (2002)

Over one billion

US $20-30 billion

Nutritional intake increase by 1% KCAL

2-3% more profit made monthly (accounting for between U.S. $1-5 for every U.S. $1 invested).

The stats given above clearly show that the overall health care costs made can be potentially saved if the overall nutritional plan and structure within businesses improves and continues to improve with the passage of time.

Body

Importance of Nutrition Awareness

The significance of nutrition within the workplace was perhaps universally recognized when it became one of the fundamentals of the ILO Decent Work structure. The ILO Decent Work structure recognized healthy nutrition intake at the workplace as an important phenomenon of improving the overall health of the individuals as most of the Americans spend a majority of their day and week at their offices. The ILO Decent Work structure was one of the first to adopt the nutritional intervention as one of the important factors that improved the overall communication and interaction between the managers and the employees, it was also one of the factors that significantly influence the production levels of the business and also served as an indispensable element of social protection of workers. This was an aftermath of the significant increase witnessed in the department of illnesses and diseases in the past two decades especially illnesses that are a result of high stress, anxiety, cardiovascular disturbances, high or low blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, cancer, low calcium intake, etc.

The importance of high quality nutritional intake has also increased significantly within the American Military. Colonel Gaston Bathalon, an Army nutrition professional, explains that the "Weight issues plague all branches of the military...Thousands of troops are struggling to lose weight, and thousands have been booted out of the service in recent years because they couldn't...One of the biggest worries concerns those not even in uniform yet, however: Nearly 2 out of every 10 men and 4 out of every 10 women of recruiting age weigh too much to be eligible, a record number for that age group...' 'This is quickly becoming a national security issue for us. The pool of recruits is becoming smaller," said Colonel Gaston Bathalon, an Army nutrition specialist.

Nutrition in the Workplace

Poor meal programs and poor nutrition underlie so many workplace issues: morale, safety, productivity, and the long-term health of the workers and nations. But few workers are happy with their meal arrangements," explains Christopher Wanjek in his book titled "Food at Work: Workplace solutions for malnutrition, obesity and chronic diseases." Wanjek in this book has supported nutrition as the backbone for increased production and efficiency in the workplace after conducted a global assessment of the business world and its environment, both where nutrition was given importance and where nutrition was not given importance. He also explains that more often then not, people take their food intake for granted especially in the workplace. He says that this is one of the biggest mistakes on the employer's part because higher quality food provision in the offices is, in his opinion, one of the easiest ways to improve the employee motivation and overall production levels of the company. He emphasizes that the cafeterias in offices and vending machines need to have a nutrition-based menu with mostly healthy snacks and bars that will help boost the overall metabolism of the individual that in turn will help them in excelling in their work.

Developing nations need to break the cycle of poor nutrition, low productivity and low wages. Some workers have difficulty feeding their own children in these regions and poor child nutrition is dooming for the future workforce. It is important to note how prevalent iron-deficiency is and how cheaply it can be remedied. Low iron, which affects up to half the world's population, is tied to sluggishness and diminished cognitive ability and thus accidents and low productivity," explains Wanjek. He suggests that the businesses should make sure that they have proper menus and nutrition education programs initiated that could educate the employees on how their overall standard of life and work ethic can improve with the intake of certain nutritional foods.

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