P050 Sleep, Eat, Comment, Repeat: Understanding the influence of sleep on the eating behaviours of shiftworkers through comments on Facebook

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Shiftworkers experience altered sleeping patterns and eating habits compared to dayworkers. This leads to long-term negative health outcomes. While characteristics of shiftwork, such as work hours and food availability, impact eating habits, the impact of altered sleeping on the eating behaviour of shiftworkers is unknown. The aim of this study was to explore how sleep patterns impact the eating behaviour of shiftworkers through the analysis of Facebook comments. Methods The Facebook search function was used to identify posts relating to shiftwork, sleep, and food on public pages. Comments were collected if they were posted by self-identified shiftworkers, relatives of shiftworkers, or partners of shiftworkers. Thematic analysis was conducted on all comments to identify themes relating to sleeping and eating. Results 144 comments were collected and analysed. Comments reported feelings of sleepiness as motivating the choice for unhealthy foods and the choice to eat large quantities of food. Multiple comments also discussed how unhealthy food on shift contributed to poor sleep post-shift. Discussion Given that, in a naturalistic environment like Facebook, shiftworkers display an understanding of an influence of sleepiness on food choice, interventions can move past making shiftworkers aware of poor sleeping and eating patterns and move to strategies that optimise the timing of these behaviours. Such strategies should consider the relationship between sleep and eating to inform strategies to promote healthy eating patterns together with healthy sleep, with the goal of improving shiftworker health and safety.