How much time do you spend indoors?
One of our recent studies found that a surprising three-quarters of Brits (75%) spend most of the daylight hours inside, whilst a third (32%) of the nation confessed to spending less than one hour outside on a typical weekday.
The daily commute and a busy job were frequently mentioned factors that prevented people from getting outside as often as they would like. Over half of employed Brits spend less than ten minutes outside on their lunch break, with just a mere 3% taking advantage of the full hour available to them. Perhaps this is because a fifth have too much work and more than one in ten worry about being away from their desk!
Following these surprising findings, we interviewed some UK-based workers who spend the majority of their working lives indoors, to get more insight into their lunchtime habits and the effect it has on their overall health and well-being.
We interviewed three random people regarding their working day!
As well as having a negative impact on your stress levels, not taking your full lunch break means you’re missing out on crucial fresh air and Vitamin D! Look after yourself by making more of your lunch break – even an extra 10 minutes a day could do wonders for your long-term well-being.
Are you getting enough vitamin D?
Everybody is different and individual vitamin D levels can vary depending on the time of year, your job (i.e. how much daytime you spend indoors), your clothing and even your skin type. The recommended daily maintenance dosage is 400IU daily (or 10mcg) as outlined in the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidance.
If you’re unsure about your levels of vitamin D, there’s a simple blood test you can take at home. Simply follow the instructions included in the blood test kit, and the level of vitamin D in your sample will be analysed by an independent EU lab.
For specific advice about your own vitamin D intake and whether you should be supplementing, we would advise you speak to your Healthcare Practitioner.
