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New study: Is office food making you fat?

Workers in an office took in an extra average of 1,200 calories worth of food and beverages per person, per week.

Everyone has felt the urge to eat at work. Whether it's your co-workers bringing in bagels on Fridays, donuts for someone's birthday, or just a vending machine craving in the afternoon - food is somehow inescapable at the office. In a brand new national study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers surveyed over 5,000 working participants to find out just what's happening to your waistline at work.

The survey found that workers took in an extra average of 1,200 calories worth of food and beverages per person, per week. The food came from a variety of sources like vending machines and cafeterias, but also events in and out of the office - some of which was free (leading it to be even more tempting). Free food was the main reason of why people ate at work with 17 percent of the votes, versus those who purchased food at work, which was only 8 percent. Not to mention, the foods aren't exactly healthy. Researchers found that most of the free food offered were things that add up "empty" calories like, pizza, soft drinks, cookies, brownies, and other sweets.

Stephen Onufrack, lead author of the study, said in his findings that "nearly one in four working adults obtained food at work during the week, and the food and beverages that they got added up to an average of nearly 1,300 calories, more than half the recommended daily calorie intake for the average adult." The silver lining in all of this? Employers will now be aware of the health risks they are putting on their employees. Offices can now take action to get health and offer better food services - like how about apples at meetings, instead of donuts?

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