How WFH is making you fatter: Brits consume nearly 800 extra calories when hybrid working and take 3,500 fewer steps, survey finds

Working from home might sound appealing, with the promise of a lie-in to escape the dreaded commute and chance to keep your pyjamas on throughout the day.

But it could be making you fatter, a survey suggested today.

Brits consume almost 800 extra calories and walk 3,500 fewer steps on average when they WFH. 

Experts acknowledged that making your lounge your office can be a ‘cosy working environment’.

However, they warned it can ‘lack structure and routine’, potentially spelling trouble for your waistline.

Brits consume almost 800 extra calories and walk 3,500 fewer steps on average when they WFH. Experts acknowledged that making your lounge your office can be a ‘cosy working environment’. However, they warned it can ‘lack structure and routine’, potentially spelling trouble for your waistline

Sixty per cent of respondents admitted they are unhealthier in their own homes. Many cited having fewer temptations as the main reason they are healthier on days when they are in the office. Others confessed they were encouraged to be healthy by having other people around them 

Registered dietician Brookell White, of MyFitnessPal, which carried out the survey of 2,000 hybrid workers, said: ‘This can make it easy to indulge in the comforts of home and reach for snacks you may not have in an office setting.’

Sixty per cent of respondents admitted they are unhealthier in their own homes.

Many cited having fewer temptations as the main reason they are healthier on days when they are in the office. Others confessed they were encouraged to be healthy by having other people around them. 

On average, the respondents consumed 2,752 calories when working from home, according to self-recorded data. 

This was 791 calories higher than the 1,961 logged for a typical office day.

For comparison, a Big Mac from McDonald’s contains around 493 calories, while a Greggs sausage roll has 329. 

A KitKat, meanwhile, contains 209 calories. 

Respondents were also asked to use their phone, Fitbit watch or Apple watch to calculate how many steps they took daily. 

Among home working employees, 4,518 was the average figure logged — well below the recommended 10,000 a day.

Researchers at MyFitnessPal found that in comparison, Brits walk an average of 8,087 steps on a working from the office day. 

Almost half of respondents (45 per cent) also admitted they often don’t leave the house at all when working from home. 

Prior to the pandemic, only one in eight of us were home-workers, and in many cases this was only some of the time.

In what has been the biggest gear shift in employment for decades, today just under half of Britain’s working population – over 13million – have swapped being in the office full-time for flexi-work that allows them to log-on from their living rooms, kitchens and home studies.

The poll also found that on WFH days, respondents claimed to consume five snacks, compared to the three working from the office.

More than a third (36 per cent) also admitted to eating when they are not hungry — and almost one in three (30 percent) do not get dressed until lunchtime.

Ms White said: ‘If you’re concerned about your nutritional intake or overconsumption, tracking your meals and snacks can help you understand the favourable nutrients you are consuming, and the other nutrients you may be consuming too much of.’

Among her tips for ensuring a work from home day reflects an office day, includes going for a run or walk before and after work — to mirror going to and from the office and taking intermittent breaks throughout the day. 

It comes as experts have suggested working from home has worsened poor mental health and feelings of loneliness, especially in those who are vulnerable. 

But Brits have taken to home working with more enthusiasm than most of our European neighbours. 

A global survey earlier this year found UK employees spend an average of 1.5 days a week logged in from the study, the dining table or the patio – compared to an international average of 0.9 days.