Doing Lunch…Or Not

Miami-based Burger King commissioned a survey of over 500 workers across Europe, and more U.K. residents than ever report skipping lunch altogether or hurriedly eating a snack at their desks while handling e-mails and phone calls. Some 55% of U.K. workers never take a lunch break, even though 60% of those realize they are affecting the performance of their job by skipping the mid-day meal.

Of those who break for lunch regularly, 40% take half an hour or less, with only half escaping the office environment in that time.

The Burger King survey of 500 workers across Europe reveals other European countries are well aware of the benefits of a proper lunch break, as all of those questioned in Belgium, France, Greece and Portugal “never fail to stop for lunch.” Germany and Spain are somewhere in the middle, with 30% and 25%, respectively, never doing lunch.

According to the National Restaurant Association (Washington), 40% of full-time employed Americans do not take a “real” lunch break, and 25% say their lunch hour is spent doing something other than eating.