Schär’s fibre focussed workplace health initiative

The project was led by their in-house Company Dietitian (Katie Kennedy), with support from specialist workplace health dietitian, Sue Baic, and included the following elements:

• Launch meeting with colleagues to explain the background to the project
• Design and distribution of a fibre consumption questionnaire for all colleagues, helping them to estimate current fibre intakes and identify where improvements could be made.
• Delivery of a "Fabulous Fibre" online workshop, covering the importance, sources and amounts of fibre required, alongside practical tips to help participants increase intake. Knowledge and attitudes to change were assessed via live polls during the session.
• Weekly Fibre Feb emails to colleagues, providing fact sheets, tips and ideas to boost fibre intake (see attached examples)
• A free fibre hamper for all colleagues, containing high fibre meal and snack foods to try at home.
• Individual dietitian consultations for 6 volunteer employees offering more tailored advice to improve fibre intake and overall diet.

Results / learnings

The intervention was extremely well received by all colleagues. Over seventy percent of colleagues reported to have made changes to their diet to increase fibre intake following their participation in the project. The success of the project has triggered requests from the Dr Schär ‘work council’ for further workplace nutrition-focussed initiatives in the future.