The lunch hour is dead. One in ten of us doesn’t bother to take one, and those who do take on average just 30 minutes.

Forget shopping and pub lunches. Instead, we are eating at our desks, surfing the net or continuing with work.

Research from Orangina, the drinks manufacturer, suggests that only 23 per cent of us take an hour for lunch, and almost half take 30 minutes or less. A small minority — 6 per cent — leave the workplace for lunch every day.

Kim Cousens, a PA in a hotel, never takes a lunch break. “I only work two days a week and feel that I can’t afford the time away from my desk. It doesn’t bother me, but I know I should really take an hour off. Most of my colleagues will have lunch sitting at their desks but I don’t think anyone would criticise me for taking time off.”

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For Nick Pickles, taking a lunch hour was not an option in his last job: “I worked in a compact office space, so if you decided to take your lunch on the sofa in the office it was viewed as taking time off work, as if you were slacking. If I took a 45-minute lunch break, I would return to the office to comments regarding it.”

This is a marked contrast to his current job. “The job I am in now is totally different and I perform much better because I get a proper lunch break. I couldn’t have lunch at my desk now. There are too many distractions. It is good to have that time to regroup your thoughts.”

Pickles’s experience is common. A 2006 study by Time Out magazine in London found that 41 per cent of workers said they were less productive in the afternoon without a full lunch hour. An ICM poll found that women were less likely to take lunch than men, but took twice as many days off through stress.

As well as stress, not taking a proper break can have physical consequences. “Sitting still for a long time will increase the likelihood of pain developing, and it will only get worse if nothing is done about it,” says David Lewis, policy adviser at the Health and Safety Executive.

“The guidance we give is that people should take short, frequent breaks of five to ten minutes every hour, maybe making a cup of tea, using the telephone or filing.

“It has been shown that following this advice helps to prevent the development of upper-limb disorders such as RSI.”

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s employee relations adviser, Ben Wilmott, advocates taking at least half an hour for lunch: “It is important that employers don’t encourage a culture of presenteeism. Managers need to be aware of the dangers of not taking a lunch, and of staff working longer.”

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