Diabetes, stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, bone problems. bad telecommuting habits can harm your health

A minimalist plate, mixing a portion of last night’s dinner and three salad leaves, wolfing down at full speed in front of your screen, one eye on your email inbox, the other on WhatsApp. This is, more or less, what a remote work lunch looks like, according to a 2022 study by Crédoc and the Danone Institute among agri-food group employees. Consequently, 72% of them eat alone, compared to 12% of office workers, in less than twenty minutes (38% vs. 18%) and in a less varied way. We also stay more sedentary at home, 69% with fewer trips compared to a day at the office.

Bad habits we know the risks of… in part. “We know that they can increase the risk of diseases such as diabetes, stroke or neurodegenerative diseases,” emphasizes Françoise Neant, chief delegate of the Danone Institute. But 1+1 doesn’t have to equal 2, it can equal 3 or 4. This is called empowerment. Poor nutrition and lack of exercise can increase the negative impact on bone health, for example. Remote work can also harm eye health. With what consequences after 20 years? For now, we don’t know that, nor the cost of these diseases to the community. Hence the importance of prevention to minimize future exposure. “Therefore, also the precise recommendations made in the manifesto published last September, calling on public bodies, enterprises, as well as the employees themselves to monitor their health. “Teleworking has become the norm, now we need to support it in the long term.” And establish new, healthier habits.

Switch off (really) at lunch

44% of telecommuters do another activity during their break: sports, shopping, stretching machine… This is a good thing. “Breaking a sedentary lifestyle is healthy,” says Françoise Nean. Going down to get the mail, going to the bakery or the bookstore avoids sitting on an armchair or sofa. »

However, telecommuting days often feel more intense than days spent in the office. In a recent study by CGT, the general union of engineers, managers and technicians, 40% of respondents said they took fewer breaks at home than in person, and 60% rated their productivity as higher remotely. while working. The reason, in particular, is the lack of a system that respects the right to disconnect. only 36% of the respondents are like that. Hence the important role of management, as recalled in the manifesto of the Danone Institute, which calls on public authorities to include in the Labor Code the obligation to teach about the risks associated with remote work. “The company has a legal role towards its employee,” recalls François Neant. If he does not do something about remote work, he may not fully play his role. It’s about putting the cursor in the right place, opening a dialogue about needs and possible solutions.”

Standing sessions and micro naps

The remote worker obviously remains an actor with his health. But an employer can encourage its employees to participate in their regular video meetings, for example, by protecting the lunch break, banning meetings before 8 am or after 7 pm, too many employees take advantage of the saved travel time to work more. The manifesto even recommends encouraging micro-packaging, with recognized benefits, both at home and in the office. The tracks are far from the cult of performance that excites open spaces. “It would be good to break certain patterns,” says Françoise Nean, “it has been shown that sitting in front of a screen all day does not increase productivity. On the contrary, breaks or sleep allow you to restore energy, think away from noise and anxiety, find the best solution to a problem, etc. » Staying away from the continuous but sometimes sterile effort, in short, to which the loneliness of remote work sometimes drives us.

Join a co-working space

Hence the interest to work not from your living room, but from time to time in a collective space near your home. Offers have multiplied in all regions since Covid, with places welcoming anything but remote workers, freelancers or entrepreneurs. “These localized places offer the opportunity to team up between partners or between companies to recreate calmness and encourage people to move more,” emphasizes Françoise Néan. If you exercise twice a week but sit all day, you are sedentary, you should know this. » Walking to the subway or riding a bike, even for a short commute, allows you to get some movement into your telecommuting days. And, by the way, to better separate the private and professional areas, the fusion of which is not free for mental health.

TT, an online yoga and cooking workshop

An additional step would be to extend existing office services to these co-working spaces. Since you can eat in the cafeteria or take a fitness class on your break, why shouldn’t employees enjoy the same offerings outside? Sports classes, collaborations with caterers to offer healthy packed lunches to telecommuters, cooking incentives with prison guards to assemble at the office and prepare lunch at home the next day… Everything is possible and imaginable depending on the size, organization and company resources so that employees move more and eat better. “All this must be concrete,” encourages Françoise Nean, “directly affecting everyday life.” We are living in a time of profound lifestyle changes, and the work environment is one of them. Employers must therefore decide whether they want to support these changes or resist them.