Does working night shifts influence nurses' eating habits

Shalish, Y., Gelbart, O., Raanan, O., Rubinstein, D., & Siebzehner, M. I. (2007). Does working night shifts influence nurses' eating habits? (Presentation) ICN Conference, Yokohama, Japan.

Background: Night shift work can affect nurse' awareness. It is difficult to stay awake and alert because these shifts are not in accordance to the human biological clock. 

Objective: To assess whether working at night affects food consumption and drinking energy beverages.

Instrument and Methods:  A self-reported questionnaire was given to 723 staff nurses in a large medical center. The questions related to demographic characteristics, eating and drinking habits and working at night. Rate of compliance was 52%.

Results: The findings of this study show that 71% of the nurses work various and combined shifts, with 25% of them working night shifts more than the half the time. Significant correlation was found between working night shifts and non-restricted eating habits (χ2= 10.150, p< 0.006), nurses reported eating more snacks during their shifts (χ2= 9,6810, p< 0.007). 30% of the nurses reported drinking energy beverages during their night shifts (χ2= 44.228, p< 0.0001). Outcomes show a higher BMI and a strong tendency of obesity in nurses working night shifts. A significant correlation was found between health self-perception, BMI and eating habits (p<0.0001).

Conclusions: Night shift nurses do not have balanced eating habits and they have a tendency towards obesity.  The demand of being awake during the night affects nurses' consumption of snacks, sweets and energetic drinks.  

Recommendations: Nurses and their employers should be aware that working night shifts affects eating habits in a negative manner.  Hospitals need to provide access to healthy foods and snacks, especially during night shifts.