DECHOX
28th February 2018
The British Heart Foundation is challenging the nation’s chocoholics to once again put their willpower to the test and give up chocolate for March with its DECHOX event.
DECHOX first launched in 2015 and last March, over 16,000 people took part raising more than £1.2 million. This year the charity is hoping even more people will participate.
Chocoholic Workforce
A survey conducted by The British Heart Foundation revealed the true extent of ‘cake culture’ in the office, highlighting that a third of workers (33%) trying to watch their waistlines say they’ve ditched the diet at least once after being tempted by sweet treats in the workplace.
The DECHOX survey showed that two fifths (40%) of the UK workforce eat chocolate at least every other day during the average working week, with a quarter (25%) saying they are actually incapable of getting through the nine-to-five without succumbing to their chocolate cravings.
A quarter (25%) of all workers believe their colleagues are to blame for this chocolate epidemic sweeping offices across the nation. Among the most chocoholic industries to work in are the education and IT sectors where nearly half (47%) of staff tuck into chocolate at least every other day at work.
The British Heart Foundation also found that two fifths (40%) of workers polled confessed that chocolate is so commonplace in their office it is become part of the furnishings.
This rose to two thirds (66%) of people in finance and over six in ten (61%) in the healthcare industry who admit there’s permanently chocolate in the office. It seems nothing can stand in our way when in the office!
Although eight in ten (84%) believe it is an unwritten rule not to steal chocolate from colleagues, around a fifth (19%) have pinched from other employees to get their sugary fix and over a fifth (21%) keep an emergency stash of chocolate at work for when the cravings hit.
Tracy Parker, one of the British Heart Foundation’s Heart Health Dietitians, said: “It’s no secret that we’re a nation of chocoholics. While it’s fine to treat yourself now and again, this survey shows just how much our workplace ‘cake culture’ is helping feed our sugary habit, even tempting people to ditch their healthy diets.”
Tracy adds: “By challenging yourself and your colleagues to a DECHOX this March you can help eliminate temptation whilst raising funds for our life saving research. By ditching chocolate, you can kick start some healthier habits, and help fund the breakthroughs that will see us beat heart disease for good.”
With over a third (37%) confessing we will scoff chocolate at work if it’s within eyesight, the British Heart Foundation say it’s time for a DECHOX and are calling on chocolate-lovers across the UK to give up their favourite chocolate treats for March and get sponsored to raise money for vital research into heart and circulatory disease, which affects around 7million people in the UK.
Adrian Adams, Head of Mass Participation at the British Heart Foundation, says: “It’s no secret that we’re a nation of chocolate-lovers and it’s extraordinary how far people are willing to go for a sweet treat. Whilst it’s only a bit of fun to challenge yourself to ditch chocolate for one month, the money raised through sponsorship will help fund vital research to help transform the lives of an estimated seven million people living with heart and circulatory disease in the UK.”
To find out more about DECHOX, visit the British Heart Foundation’s website.
