Pilot testing an electronic food diary among Registered Nurses working night shifts

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Occupational Health
• Chronobiology

Background:

• Night shift work is linked to increased risk of chronic illness due to circadian misalignment.
• Previous dietary intake assessments for night shift workers lacked accuracy.
• Nurses working night shifts face unique challenges in maintaining healthy eating patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of using the MyFitnessPal application for tracking dietary intake among nurses on a 12-hour night shift.
• To compare nutrient intake between on-duty and off-duty periods for night shift nurses.
• To evaluate sugar consumption in relation to national recommendations.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving 16 nurses working a 12-hour night shift.
• Utilized the MyFitnessPal electronic food diary application for nutritional logging.
• Collected data on on-duty and off-duty eating habits and nutrient intake.

Main Results:

• Achieved 92% compliance in nutritional logging using the MyFitnessPal app.
• Nurses reported significantly higher daily sugar intake than national recommendations, both on-duty (273.0 kcal) and off-duty (293.5 kcal).
• No significant differences in macronutrient consumption were found between on-duty and off-duty periods.

Conclusions:

• The MyFitnessPal application demonstrates feasibility for night shift nurses to track their dietary intake.
• Night shift nurses exhibit high sugar consumption, indicating a need for targeted dietary interventions.
• Further research is warranted to investigate the relationship between night shift work, dietary patterns, and health outcomes in nurses.