Dietary Patterns of Nurses on Rotational Shifts Are Marked by Redistribution of Energy into the Nightshift

Nutrients

Alan Flanagan¹  DebraJ. Skene¹  BruceA. Griffin²  Elizabeth Lowson³  Sara Arber³ 

[1] Department of Biochemical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK;Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK;Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK;

关键词: shift work;    circadian rhythms;    diet;    nutrition;    circadian misalignment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu12041053

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Nightshift work is associated with adverse health outcomes, which may be related to eating during the biological night, when circadian rhythms and food intake are misaligned. Nurses often undertake nightshift work, and we aimed to investigate patterns of energy distribution and dietary intake across 14 days in 20 UK National Health Service (NHS) nurses working rotational shifts. We hypothesised that the proportion of daily energy consumed during the nightshift would increase over consecutive nights. Primary and secondary outcome measures included intakes of energy and macronutrients. Our results show that nurses consumed the same total daily energy on nightshifts and non-nightshifts, but redistributed energy to the nightshift period in increasing proportions with a significant difference between Night 1 and 2 in the proportion of total daily energy consumed (26.0 ± 15.7% vs. 33.5 ± 20.2%, mean ± SD; p < 0.01). This finding indicates that, rather than increasing total energy intake, nurses redistribute energy consumed during nightshifts as a behavioural response to consecutive nightshifts. This finding informs our understanding of how the intake of energy during the biological night can influence adverse health outcomes of nightshift work.

【 授权许可】

Unknown