Workers forget to eat their lunch this many times a week

This story version has been formatted as an on-air script for broadcast outlets. See the original research story here

MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICANS SKIP LUNCH IN ORDER TO WORK MORE, ACCORDING TO A RECENT SURVEY, AND  COMPLETELY FORGET TO EAT LUNCH TWO DAYS OUT OF THE WORK WEEK, ON AVERAGE.

IN FACT, MORE THAN FOUR IN 10 WORKERS (43%) RELY ON REMINDERS TO EAT A MIDDAY MEAL, WITH WOMEN BEING SIGNIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY THAN MEN (63% VS. 48%) TO NEED A REMINDER TO EAT DURING THE WORKDAY.

COMMISSIONED BY BUDDIG FOR NATIONAL SANDWICH MONTH IN AUGUST AND CONDUCTED BY TALKER RESEARCH, THE SURVEY FOUND THAT ALTHOUGH 63 PERCENT OF WORKING AMERICANS EAT A FULL MEAL FOR LUNCH MOST DAYS, THE OTHER 37 PERCENT SAY THEY ONLY EAT A SNACK FOR LUNCH, OR GRAZE ON LITTLE SNACK FOODS THROUGHOUT THE DAY IN PLACE OF A MEAL. 

MORE THAN ONE IN 10 (13%) ALSO ADMITTED THEY’LL TYPICALLY WORK AND EAT LUNCH AT THE SAME TIME ON A REGULAR WORKDAY, INSTEAD OF TAKING A BREAK FROM THEIR TASKS TO EAT.

WHAT’S YOUR LUNCHTIME ROUTINE? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 employed Americans with a quota of 1,000 parents of school-aged children; the survey was commissioned by Buddig and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between July 15 and July 18, 2025.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.