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In A Nutshell
- 55% of employed Americans skip lunch on busy days to be more productive.
- On average, workers completely forget to eat lunch two days per week.
- 43% need reminders to eat, with women more likely than men to need them (63% vs. 48%).
- 75% say sandwiches are their go-to lunch; 70% of parents say their kids love them too.
- Parents describe their kids’ lunches as healthier than their own (83% vs. 74%).
NEW YORK — It’s 2:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, and you suddenly realize you haven’t eaten since that hurried cup of coffee at 7 a.m. Your stomach is growling, your energy is dipping, and you’re staring at your computer screen wondering where the day went. While this might sound familiar, it also reflects a growing reality for many workers.
A new Talker Research survey reveals that more than half of American workers regularly skip lunch to stay productive. According to research commissioned by Buddig for National Sandwich Month, 55% of employed Americans forgo eating lunch on hectic days, choosing work over food. On average, workers completely forget to eat lunch two days out of the work week.
Nearly half of all workers (43%) rely on external reminders just to remember to eat their midday meal. Women need these prompts more than men, with 63% requiring reminders compared to 48% of men.
Lunch Hour Isn’t Even 45 Minutes Anymore
The traditional lunch break has largely disappeared. More than one in ten workers (13%) regularly eat while working instead of taking an actual break from their tasks. A third of employed Americans (33%) routinely eat their midday meal at their desk or workstation.
Remote workers are the biggest culprits of desk dining, with 41% eating at their workspace compared to 38% of hybrid workers and 28% of in-person employees. However, hybrid workers are most likely to take true lunch breaks at 94%, compared to 85% of remote workers and 87% of in-person employees.
When workers do manage to eat, the quality often suffers. While 63% of working Americans eat a full meal for lunch most days, 37% have abandoned proper meals altogether, instead snacking or grazing on small foods throughout the day.
Nearly two-thirds of workers bring their own lunch to the office, with sandwiches being the clear favorite meal. (© Africa Studio – stock.adobe.com)
The lunch hour now lasts just 35 minutes on average, with workers eating at 12:48 p.m. Even during these abbreviated breaks, many can’t disconnect. Among those who step away from work to eat, 43% continue multitasking, with women more likely than men to multitask while eating lunch (51% versus 33%).
During lunch breaks, workers most commonly check social media (70%), text (64%), and make phone calls (55%). Yet 84% of respondents agreed that taking offline lunch breaks, without screens or technology, benefits their health.
What To Eat For Lunch At The Office
Three-quarters of workers (75%) choose sandwiches as their go-to lunch meal, and 70% of parents report their school-aged children also prefer sandwiches at lunchtime.
Most employed Americans (62%) bring lunch from home on a typical workday, while a third (33%) purchase their meal and 5% have meals provided by their employer. Working Americans most commonly eat sandwiches, followed by salads (45%), and hamburgers (33%) for lunch. Their children’s school lunches feature sandwiches (58%), pre-made meal kits (36%), and pizza (30%) most frequently.
Are Working Parents Neglecting Their Own Nutrition?
A troubling health gap emerges when comparing how workers feed themselves versus their children. While 83% of parents with school-aged kids describe their children’s lunches as healthy, only 74% can say the same about their own meals.
Work arrangements impact lunch quality. Hybrid workers report eating the healthiest lunches (79%) compared to remote workers (71%) and in-person employees (65%). Those whose lunches are provided by employers report having healthier meals (75%) than those who bring homemade lunches (72%) or purchase their food (62%).
Gender differences also affect eating habits. Men (91%) are more likely than women (85%) to pause their work to eat lunch.
Amy Krider, senior brand manager at Buddig, emphasizes the importance of proper workplace nutrition. “While it can be tempting to power through your workday and skip taking a lunch, it’s important to give yourself a break and eat a full, substantial meal,” she says. “Not only do we need all the energy we can get from a filling meal to do our best work, we also need little breaks from our screens and tasks during the day as well for our health and wellness.”
Krider acknowledges the challenges facing working parents: “Busy work schedules mean that many don’t have time to pack healthy, protein-filled lunches. And working parents have the added struggle of making sure their kiddos get nutritious, filling meals while at school. That’s where the classic sandwich can come in handy. Protein-filled and versatile, it’s included among respondents’ favorite lunch meals for a reason.”
The survey points to a workforce caught in a productivity trap, sacrificing basic self-care for professional achievement. The normalization of skipped meals, desk dining, and constant connectivity during breaks represents a troubling way of life in American work culture.
Methodology: Talker Research surveyed 2,000 employed Americans with a quota of 1,000 parents of school-aged children between July 15-18, 2025. The online survey used non-probability sampling from traditional online access panels and programmatic sources. Quality controls included screening for speeders, inappropriate responses, bots, and duplicates. Statistical significance was calculated at the 95% level, with cells reported only when they contained a minimum of 80 respondents.