Abstract
Despite the consequences of night-shift work, the diet of night-shift workers has not been widely studied. To date, there are no studies related to food intake among emergency healthcare workers (HCWs). We performed a prospective observational study to assess the influence of night work on the diet of emergency HCWs. We monitored 24-h food intake during a day shift and the consecutive night, and during night work and the daytime beforehand. We analyzed 184 emergency HCWs’ food intakes. Emergency HCWs had 14.7% lower (−206 kcal) of their 24-h energy intake during night shifts compared to their day-shift colleagues (1606.7 ± 748.2 vs. 1400.4 ± 708.3 kcal, p = 0.049) and a 16.7% decrease in water consumption (1451.4 ± 496.8 vs. 1208.3 ± 513.9 mL/day, p = 0.010). Compared to day shifts, night-shift had 8.7% lower carbohydrates, 17.6% proteins, and 18.7% lipids. During the night shift the proportion of emergency HCWs who did not drink for 4 h, 8 h and 12 h increased by 20.5%, 17.5%, and 9.1%, respectively. For those who did not eat for 4 h, 8 h and 12 h increased by 46.8%, 27.7%, and 17.7%, respectively. A night shift has a huge negative impact on both the amount and quality of nutrients consumed by emergency healthcare workers.
Highlights
According to the International Labor Organization, night work is defined as “all work which is performed during a period of not less than seven consecutive hours, including the interval from midnight to 5 a.m.” [1]
Four emergency healthcare workers (HCWs) were excluded because pregnancy and four for incomplete data
Our results showed a low consumption of water consumed by emergency HCWs
Summary
According to the International Labor Organization, night work is defined as “all work which is performed during a period of not less than seven consecutive hours, including the interval from midnight to 5 a.m.” [1]. Night-shift workers tend to have more irregular eating habits than their day colleagues [12]. Some findings showed that meal timing and meal size have an impact on cognitive performance and subjective sleepiness among night-shift workers. Emergency HCWs are a perfect example for studying the impact of night shifts [20]. The availability of food is much less important during the night compared to the day in a hospital. It is rarely fresh but often packaged reheated food with a bad presentation. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies that assessed the influence of night work on the diet among the population of emergency HCWs, nor in relation to their occupational characteristics
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