Role of shift work in dietary changes among Danish nurses

Research indicates that shift work is associated with dietary changes and the development of chronic diseases.

To assess if moving from day work into shift work is associated with dietary changes in Danish nurses.

Binary variables of changes in food consumption were created using data from the 1993 and 1999 surveys of the Danish Nurse Cohort. Analyses were carried out using multiple logistic regression in SPSS to assess how dietary practices changed in nurses who moved from day work into shift work compared with those who remained in day work.

This study included 763 nurses who changed from Day to Shift work and 4022 nurses who continued to work days. Nurses who moved from day work into shift work were more likely to decrease their potato and vegetable intake odds ratio (OR) 1.31 (1.04-1.63). There was no difference in the frequency of coffee, milk or cheese consumption. New shift workers consumed more fatty meat OR 1.82 (1.23-2.69), sausages OR 1.37 (1.09-1.73) and cream/whipped cream/butter OR 1.61 (1.25-2.07) when they had avoided these foods in the past, compared to those who remained in day work.

The majority of Danish nurses made little change to their diet as a result of moving into shift work, but some made dietary changes that were generally unhealthy compared with those who remained in day work. Employers of nurses should consider implementing health promotional activities, facilitating access and/or providing healthy eating options in nurses moving from Day to Shift work.