It is the employer’s responsibility to support and promote employees’ health and wellness, according to 96 per cent of professionals in the Mena region, a report said.

Subsequently, 87.1 per cent claimed they will more likely exercise if their company offers a gym subscription, while only 2.3 per cent of respondents claimed otherwise, according to the latest ‘Health and Lifestyle in the Middle East and North Africa’ poll, conducted by Bayt.com, a leading career site in the Middle East.

Exercising and physical activities

The majority of Mena professionals take time to exercise throughout the week, with 29.1 per cent of them engaging in more than 30 minutes of exercise three or four times a week. 18.5 per cent of respondents said they exercise once or twice in a week.

Walking/running emerged as the exercise of choice for 29.7 per cent of respondents, followed by intramural sports (17.8 per cent), swimming (15.5 per cent) and lifting weights (14.6 per cent). 13.3 per cent of the respondents confessed of not engaging in any exercises at all.

Only 3 in 10 respondents (30.2 per cent) said that their companies provide fitness facilities or benefits to encourage a healthy lifestyle, while 60 per cent claimed the opposite. 1 out of every 10 respondents said they were not sure about the health benefits offered at their company.

Diet and eating habits

When asked about the overall healthiness of their diet, 6 out of 10 respondents agree that their diet is healthy, with 17.5 per cent claiming it is ‘very healthy’ and 43.1 per cent said it is ‘somewhat healthy’. Conversely, 26.8 per cent of respondents believe their diet is ‘not too healthy’.

Professionals generally eat more fruits and vegetables than fast food. 42 per cent of respondents said they eat vegetables and fruits on a daily basis, 23.1 per cent said they eat them ‘several times a week’, and 11.5 per cent said they eat them ‘less often’. Among the professionals who agree to eating fast food, 16.7 per cent eat out ‘every day’, 14.1 per cent ‘several times a week’ and 23.8 per cent ‘a few times a month’.

The poll showed that 63.3 per cent of the region’s respondents have improved their eating habits lately. 37.7 per cent claimed they have moved away from fast food, and 23.6 per cent claimed they have cut down on sugar and gluten.

Challenges to healthy living

The biggest challenge that professionals face when making healthy lifestyle choices is their busy schedule (30 per cent).  Other reasons cited include lack of management (15.8 per cent), lack of motivation (15.3 per cent) and lack of exercise facilities in or near their workplace (10.6 per cent).

Smoking and tobacco consumption

When asked about smoking, the majority of respondents (73.2 per cent) said they were non-smokers.  Among the 26.8 per cent of the respondents who smoke, 16.9 per cent smoke less at work.

Sleeping schedule

Over half (53.5 per cent) of polled professionals believe that their work schedule allows for adequate sleep, while 31.2 per cent disagree. More than 4 in 10 of them (41.6 per cent) believe that they need 6 to 7 hours of sleep to function best during the day; 22.8 per cent said they require 7 to 8 hours, and 20.6 per cent believe they need 8 or more hours.

In reality, 30.1 per cent of respondents get 7 to 8 hours of sleep on an average workday, followed by 6 to 7 hours (29.7 per cent) and less than 6 hours (26.9 per cent). 10.2 per cent of them said they get more than 8 hours of sleep a day.

“This Bayt.com workforce survey, like others we routinely conduct, aims to find ways to promote better lifestyles and careers for the Mena region’s professionals. In terms of health, we can conclude that managers are perceived to set the tone for a healthy lifestyle inside and outside the workplace. When the prevailing management philosophy is based on healthy lifestyle choices, leaders within an organization can direct employees by example and guide them in making decisions that promote increased wellness and happiness,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com.

“Work-life balance is very important to the regions’ professionals, as we have repeatedly measured in previous career polls, and a significant ingredient in achieving this balance is finding and allocating requisite time to staying healthy, in terms of physical exercise and good eating and other improved lifestyle habits,” he added.

“Bayt.com has repeatedly won top awards for its world-class environment which starts with our open plan offices and friendly culture and extends to all manner of special touches that recognize that happiness and health of our employees is paramount. We have really invested over the years in building an engaged, happy, loyal workforce and this has reaped huge rewards in terms of client loyalty, brand equity and successful recruitment around the region,” concluded Masri. – TradeArabia News Service