FIVE THINGS ABOUT LUNCH

1 NOT OUT TO LUNCH

Almost 40 per cent of Canadians are eating lunch at their desks, according to a new study gauging eating habits. The survey, conducted by Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University, found that 39 per cent of respondents ate at their desks, compared with 37 per cent at home, and 24 per cent in a cafeteria or kitchen.

2 UNDER PRESSURE

“It really speaks to how pressured workers are,” said lead author Sylvain Charlebois, a professor in food policy at Dalhousie. “To take the time to go eat any meal at work is slowly becoming a luxury.”

3 PACKED OFF

Charlebois and his team found that 72 per cent of respondents packed their own work lunches, while 24 per cent either bought their lunches or ate at restaurants. People in Atlantic Canada eat lunch at their desks most often, at almost 50 per cent, the study suggested. They’re also much more likely to eat alone, with 68 per cent reporting doing so.

4 AT THE READY

For dinner, Canadians are increasingly turning to ready-made meals or eating out, the study found. Some 41 per cent of survey respondents reported doing so once or twice a week, while three per cent said they did so every day. Only 18 per cent of participants said they never ate at restaurants or bought ready-made meals for dinner.

5 ‘DISINTEGRATION’

Charlebois says the results of the study show what he calls “a complete disintegration of our meal habits” and the abandonment of the traditional three-meals-a-day structure around which most days were scheduled. “Lunch was the first meal to disappear, because most people are challenged by work, and breakfast is next,” he said.