A worksite vegan nutrition program is well-accepted and improves health-related quality of life and work productivity.
OBJECTIVE
Vegetarian and vegan diets are effective in preventing and treating several chronic diseases. However, their acceptability outside a clinical trial setting has not been extensively studied. The aim of this study was to determine the acceptability of a worksite vegan nutrition program and its effects on health-related quality of life and work productivity.


METHODS
Employees of a major insurance corporation with a body mass index > or =25 kg/m(2) and/or a previous diagnosis of type 2 diabetes received either weekly group instruction on a low-fat vegan diet (n = 68) or received no diet instruction (n = 45) for 22 weeks.


RESULTS
The vegan group reported improvements in general health (p = 0.002), physical functioning (p = 0.001), mental health (p = 0.03), vitality (p = 0.004), and overall diet satisfaction (p < 0.001) compared with the control group. The vegan group also reported a decrease in food costs (p = 0.003), and increased difficulty finding foods when eating out (p = 0.04) compared with the control group. The vegan group reported a 40-46% decrease in health-related productivity impairments at work (p = 0.03) and in regular daily activities (p = 0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
A worksite vegan nutrition program is well-accepted and can be implemented by employers to improve the health, quality of life, and work productivity of employees.
Katcher
Heather I
HI
Washington Center for Clinical Research, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., USA.
Ferdowsian
Hope R
HR
Hoover
Valerie J
VJ
Cohen
Joshua L
JL
Barnard
Neal D
ND
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications; D014676:Diet, Vegetarian / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D004526:Efficiency; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D017132:Workplace; D055815:Young Adult