Shift work leads to poor diet

The poor diet of shift workers should be considered as a new occupational health hazard, a new study has claimed.

The poor diet of shift workers should be considered as a new occupational health hazard, a new study has claimed. The new editorial draws on previous work, which showed an association between an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and rotating patterns of shift work in nurses in the U.S.

Work

Shift work is now a very common pattern of work in both the developed and developing world, with around 15-20 percent of the working population in Europe and the U.S. engaged in shift work. It is particularly prevalent in the health care industry. Shift work is notoriously associated with poor patterns of eating, which is exacerbated by easier access to junk food compared with more healthy options.

They go on to suggest that firm action is needed to address this epidemic, which means that “governments need to legislate to improve the habits of consumers and take specific steps to ensure that it is easier and cheaper to eat healthily than not." More specifically, they suggest that unhealthy eating could legitimately be considered a new form of occupational hazard and that workplaces, specifically those who employ shift workers, should lead the way in eliminating this hazard.

The study has been recently published in PLoS Medicine.