White van man ditching junk food for exercise - and salad

Britain's van drivers are ditching their stereotypical lifestyle in favour of healthy eating and regular trips to the gym, a study has found. White van man has traditionally been labelled as junk food-loving and exercise-shy, but many are now found tucking into a healthy lunch and heading to the gym at the end of the day. In fact, the average van driver will work out twice-a-week, with 11 per cent heading to the gym at least five-times-a-week. Instead of grabbing whatever they can on the go, one in seven will make their own packed lunch so they know exactly what they will be eating. One in 10 also claim to eat a very healthy diet of fruit, vegetables and salad while on the road. A spokesman for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: "This research seems to show that nowadays, van drivers are leading a much healthier lifestyle than you might expect. "Rather than grabbing whatever they can while out on the road, they are tucking into homemade lunches of salad and fruit - a far cry from the food you might expect them to be eating." Salad swap Researchers also found four in 10 van drivers will swap sugary and salty snacks for salads and fruit as they try to eat as healthily as possible, despite being out and about for the majority of their day. And more than three quarters do at least one form of exercise every week, with those in the West Midlands the most active, working out an average of three times a week. Scottish van drivers exercise the least. It also emerged football is the sport of choice for 54 per cent of van drivers, but 29 per cent are more likely to be found watching or playing rugby. Almost one in five name golf as their favourite activity, with tennis, snooker and cycling also popular among van drivers. Twelve per cent even said scuba diving was a much-loved hobby. The study, via OnePoll.com, also revealed that many drivers claim to be more polite, patient and understanding on the road than the old 'white van man' stereotype would have you believe. Image conscious In fact 39 per cent are concerned about the stereotype associated with the white van driver, while 27 per cent went as far as to say they think it's unfair. Six in 10 say they are courteous drivers and half claim to be polite and understanding, while 47 per cent have stopped to help road users who have broken down or been involved in an accident. More than a quarter of van drivers tune into the sounds of Radio 2 when driving, with 23 per cent enjoying Heart and one in 10 listening to Classic FM. And when it comes to hobbies and interests, 35 per cent enjoy reading and 28 per cent love cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Other popular hobbies include going to the theatre (22 per cent), collecting antiques (10 per cent) art or drawing (15 per cent). Again, proving the 'white van man' image is outdated, of the 500 van drivers polled, 43 per cent of the respondents were women.