Kort sammanfattningLennernäs M, Nyberg M, Jahncke H, Ljung R. Personalrestaurangen som måltidsarena – uppfattningar om och attityder till maten och måltiden på arbetsplatsen. Högskolan i Kristianstad och Högskolan i Gävle i samarbete med Nationellt Centrum för Måltider, Vara, 2012.En enkätundersökning genomfördes vid ett sjukhus, ett regemente (försvarsmakten) och en tillverkningsindustri, totalt 78 % svarsfrekvens. Dagtidsarbete övervägde, 25 % hade schemalagt med nattarbete. Mätningar av buller och ljus i personalrestauranger genomfördes.Syfte: Att ta reda på hur anställda agerar, upplever och värderar följande aspekter i relation till arbetsmåltiden i personalrum och i personalrestaurang: Tiden (öppettider, kötider); Rummet (utrustning och inredning, ljus och belysning, fysiska mätningar och subjektiv upplevelse); Maten (meny, utbud av mat och dryck, matens smaklighet, matval vid nattarbete, värderingar i om arbetsmåltiden); Mötet (möjlighet att äta i avskildhet eller i önskvärt sällskap, service och bemötande i personalrestaurang); Logistik och planering (flödet i lokalen) samt Atmosfären (återhämtning, egenkontroll, känsloläge). Frågor om Livsstil och Hälsa ingår i studien.Resultat: Av de medverkande hade 95 % hade matrast (övriga hade måltidsuppehåll), 13 % ägnade mindre än 20 minuter åt arbetsmåltiden. Vanligast matrast var 20-30 minuter på Industrin, mer än 45 minuter på Försvaret och 31-45 minuter på Sjukhuset. En tredjedel av alla upplevde låg kontroll över måltidens längd. Lägst kontroll över möjligheten att äta när du själv är hungrig rapporterades från Sjukhuset (knappt 50 %). Drygt 40 % vid samtliga arbetsplatser saknade kontroll över möjligheten att äta i önskvärt sällskap, eller i avskildhet. Cirka en fjärdedel vid Industrin respektive, Försvaret samt 68 % vid Sjukhuset, var missnöjda med flödet att betala och ta mat i personalrestaurangerna. Mest nöjda generellt var matgästerna med drycker och portionsstorlekar. Det generellt en stor skillnad mellan hur viktigt de anställda ansåg att det är med god mat, och hur nöjda deltagarna var med maten i sin personalrestaurang. Överlag var matgästerna ganska nöjda med service och bemötande från personalen i restaurangerna. Dock var 45 % vid Försvaret inte alls nöjda, mest nöjda var personalen vid Sjukhuset, 33 %.Generellt upplevde de medverkande bättre återhämtningsmöjligheter, bättre möjligheter att ”ladda batterierna” och större möjlighet att få vila när de åt i matrummet/personalrummet i jämförelse med personalrestaurangen. De anställda upplever generellt sett att de är mer glada och skärpta efter att ha ätit i personalrummet/matrummet jämfört med personalrestaurangen. Överlag ansåg de anställda att personalrestaurangerna gav ett sämre helhetsintryck än matrummen/personalrummen, det vill säga när det gäller hur tilltalande, behaglig eller irriterande måltidsmiljön är.Slutsats och åtgärder: Studien visar att anställda upplever brist på återhämtning vid arbetsmåltider. Brist på återhämtning kan enligt annan forskning påverka förmågan att utföra ett fullgott arbete och bidra till stressrelaterade sjukskrivningar. Även måltiders näringsinnehåll påverkar välbefinnande och arbetshälsa. Arbetsmåltidens attraktivitet, kvalitet, tid, plats, sociala och fysiska miljö är således en angelägenhet och lönsamhetsfråga både för arbetsgivare och aktörer inom måltidsservice och restaurangnäring.

Nyckelord: Arbetsplats, måltider, ambience, återhämtning, stress, buller, matrum, personalrestaurang, kognition

Summary in EnglishLennernäs M, Nyberg M Jahncke H, Ljung R. Staff Restaurant as a meal arena – perceptions of and attitudes towards food and meal at work. Kristianstad University and Gävle University in cooperation with the National Centre for Meals, Sweden, 2012.BackgroundWorking life and family life has changed in many ways during the last 50 years. Rules of the Organization of working hours are examples of such changes. Also more meals are eaten outside the home. Food choice and timing of meals affect health and well-being, and probably also work performance. Other factors than individual preferences are known to influence food choice and meal context at work. It might be structural factors such as working hours, meal breaks, the supply of food and also opportunities for self storage and cooking of food. Also the physical environment that surrounds the meal in the staff restaurant and staff place might affect the catering experience, social relations and the possibility of recovery during meal breaks.Aim and designA cross-sectional study was carried out to examine meal experiences at three different work places including attitudes to, and satisfaction with, staff restaurant and dining room (staff room). Other questions concerned the degree of own control over working meals. The overall objective of the study was to gain knowledge-base for the training of catering staff and unions and employers that influence over the breaks (timing and duration), place, space and atmosphere in connection with meals at work. This report also provides a brief literature review of safety legislation (physical meal environment and breaks) and also public health aspects in relation to meals at work.Work places and subjectsThree companies participated, a manufacturing base, a regiment (armed forces), as well as a regional hospital. The intention was to study the meal at work in different social environments and different activities. A total of 724 completed questionnaires were collected, the response rate was 78 %.MethodsQuestionnaires were distributed to persons who were in place at the time of the questionnaire's award, or distributed by contact persons internally. Physical measurements of noise and light conditions were done in staff restaurants when they were empty and also when they had most meals guests during the day. The questionnaire's 20 question areas included multiple choice questions, scales with seven increments as well as open questions. Survey questions concerning the physical meal place also stress and experiences in relation to the meals at work originates from established questionnaires in environmental psychology. Catering questions were designed inspired by FAMM (Five Aspect Meal Model), the Association Key hole criteria document for caterers (service types/categories and basic concepts), the National Food Administration's administrative report "good food at work", as well as Tellström & Jönsson definition of gastronomy. General questions about working times, meal times, lifestyle and health were added. A question about Diurnal Type was included. Attitudes and experiences were assessed by using9scaled questions from 1 to 7 with the endpoints “Are not at all satisfied to Very satisfied”; “Not at all” to “A very high degree”, “No control at all to Completely self-monitoring”. Low value is interpreted as a negative attitude, high value as a positive attitude.AnalysisData from the survey and the results from light and noise measurements in the staff room was imported to the statistical programme SPSS for in-depth analyses of statistically significant differences for any selected questions. Data is organized and interpreted according to the thematic analysis which includes seven aspects:Time (working hours, meal breaks, pauses); Room (where to eat – staff restaurant or staff room, physical environment, including the measurement of light and noise, planning in relation to the room); Product – food (including self-monitoring, values and planning in relation to the product). Meeting (colleagues, catering and service personnel). Logistics and planning. Atmosphere (subjective catering experience) and finally, Food, lifestyle and health.ResultsEmployees in industry and Defense (Regiment) worked during the day and a full-time basis, at the hospital had 69% work daytime, 6% had scheduled work night, 25% of circadian cycles, night hours. The majority (95%) had meal breaks with an opportunity to leave the work place (the rest had a meal pause). 13% spent less than 20 minutes at a working meal. 20-30 minutes was most common in the Industry, more than 45 minutes was the most common to the armed forces and 31-45 minutes at the hospital. One third of all had low control over the duration of their meal break. The shortest food breaks and minimum control was reported by industry.SummaryThe natural meal environment has a major impact on the choice of place to eat and catering experience. In the survey, staff experienced better recovery in staff rooms. Staff felt more happy, bright and has "loaded battery" better after a meal in the staff room compared to Staff Restaurant. Flavors and variety in the menu is more important than e.g. local or eco-labelled food. The taste is the most important factor for satisfaction in the staff restaurant. There was a large discrepancy between how important taste was estimated to be, and how tasty the food was perceived in staff restaurants. Participants have low self-control over the possibility to eat in desirable society or in isolation or when they are hungry. Environmental factors and culinary sensations, with the greatest impact on satisfaction with the meal, need to be improved, as well as service and friendliness from the catering staff. The cooperation between meal researchers and environmental psychologists resulted in a broader analysis of how the catering environment affects meal experiences and satisfaction with working meals.Conclusions and future recommendationsPeople need food and rest to hurricane work. Energy from foods and meals, as well access to psychological detachment from work probably counteracts stress disorders and also promotes health and cognitive performance. The most striking outcome of the study was the lack of recovery during meal pauses, and especially in the staff restaurant ambience. The study also shows that employees have a relatively low control over the opportunity to eat in privacy or in10desirable companion, and even low control over the length of the meal and the opportunity to eat when hungry. Other concerns were the queues and poor logistics in the staff restaurant, but also in the staff room at the hospital.Food in the workplace is an important issue for the company because as the lack of recovery might lead to poor work performance and contribute to long term stress disorders. Furthermore, inappropriate eating habits leading over time to ill health and reduced work performance.Keywords: Workplace, meals, staff restaurant, atmosphere, recovery, detachment, stress, noise, dining room, food service, restitution