New study sheds light on short-term effects of unhealthy eating on work

The researchers found that people engaged in unhealthy eating behaviours - as instances when participants felt they'd eaten too much junk food or they'd had too much to eat or drink or when they reported having too many late-night snacks - were more likely to report having physical problems such as headaches, stomachaches and diarrhoea the next morning.

Researchers at the North Carolina State University have found that unhealthy eating behaviours at night can affect work performance and behaviour the next day.

The findings of the study titled "Does a Healthy Lifestyle Matter? A Daily Diary Study of Unhealthy Eating at Home and Behavioral Outcomes at Work," are published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

The study involved 97 full-time employees in the United States who answered a series of questions three times a day for 10 consecutive workdays. These included:

• The participants answered questions related to their physical and emotional well-being before work
• They answered questions about what they did at work at the end of each workday
• They answered questions about their eating and drinking behaviours after work before bed

The researchers found that people engaged in unhealthy eating behaviours - as instances when participants felt they'd eaten too much junk food or they'd had too much to eat or drink or when they reported having too many late-night snacks - were more likely to report having physical problems such as headaches, stomachaches and diarrhoea the next morning.

Besides, they were also more likely to report emotional strains such as feeling guilty or ashamed about their diet choices. The study found that these physical and emotional strains were associated with changes in how people behaved at work throughout the day.

People who reported physical or emotional strains were also more likely to report declines in helping behaviour - refers to helping colleagues and going the extra mile when you don't have to - and increases in withdrawal behaviour - refers to avoiding work-related situations - at work.

In contrast, emotionally stable participants suffered fewer adverse effects from unhealthy eating and their workplace behaviours were also less likely to change, even with physical and emotional strains.

"The big takeaway here is that we now know unhealthy eating can have almost immediate effects on workplace performance," said Seonghee "Sophia" Cho, corresponding author of the study and an assistant professor of psychology at NCSU.