Lunch as we knew it may be thing of the past. There’s no time for it, no booze with it, so what’s it all about?

If you find yourself munching your lunch in front of your computer you are one of the new breed known as ‘desk-diners’. More and more workers are deserting pubs and restaurants during their lunch hour, opting instead for a sandwich at their desk. Some catering companies like Sodexho will even deliver lunch straight to your desk via their online service.

According to a report by analysts Data Monitor, the lunchtime habits of UK workers have changed dramatically in the past decade due to ‘time pressures and work demands’. Long, boozy lunches are a thing of the past – in 2006 the average British worker spends just 19 minutes 42 seconds on lunch despite being entitled to an hour. This, according to a survey for Post-It Notes, is a shocking 26% less than 6 months ago, when the average lunchbreak was measured at 26 minutes.

Lunch is for guys?
The Eurest Lunchtime report 2004 found that women are more likely to skip lunch than their male colleagues, and on average women took an average of four minutes less than their male counterparts. When they do take a break they are more likely to use the time for other things. Jennifer Foster, a secretary from Manchester, plans her lunch break a week in advance. She says: ‘Food is usually the last thing on my mind at lunchtime. This week, for example I’ve used my lunch hour to do the weekly shopping, go to the bank and take the dog to the vet. When I have the time I like to go for a work-out.’

The benefits of a proper lunch
But although desk-dining can add valuable working minutes to a busy day, sacrificing your lunch hour can deprive you of a much-needed stress break. Anna Laird was a devoted desk-diner until she found it was affecting her work. ‘I used to skip lunch or eat it at my desk because I wanted to impress my boss and get my work done as quickly as possible. But I found that without that hour just to sit down and de-stress I was getting tired and cranky by 4pm and really terrible indigestion.’

Nutritionist David Cairns is concerned that desk-dining could put the health of workers at risk. ‘The short lunch means that most workers are just grabbing a sandwich. The problem is that many workers don’t eat a proper breakfast and so are not getting enough variety in their diet. Having lunch at your desk is not helpful for weight-management either. Often the only exercise office workers get during the day is when they walk to the pub.’

The new lunch
Whether it’s desk-dining or food on the run, lunch is almost unrecognisable from its former self. To make up for missing lunch during the week some workers are taking an extra long lunch on a Friday afternoon. Although the majority of workers settle on a sandwich, the alternatives such as sushi and wraps are becoming more popular. The biggest casualty of the new lunch is booze. Close to 90 per cent of people claim they never drink at lunchtime.

Lunchtime bites

• Workers in the north-west take the longest lunch breaks.
• The average worker spends £1.98 on lunch.
• The nation’s favourite lunchtime nosh is the humble sandwich.
• Men voted for Joanna Lumley as their favourite lunchtime partner whilst women would like to sit down with Tom Cruise.
• Most Scots prefer a soft drink to a glass of wine at lunchtime. Ninety-four per cent claim they never drink at lunchtime. Could they be lying, I wonder…?

Having trouble getting out for a bite?