Dietary Interventions for Night Shift Workers: A Literature Review. 2019

Yan Yin Phoi, and Jennifer B Keogh
School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5001, Australia. yanyin.phoi@unisa.edu.au.

(1) Background: Night shift workers have greater risks of developing cardiometabolic diseases compared to day workers due to poor sleep quality and dietary habits, exacerbated by circadian misalignment. Assessing effects of dietary interventions on health outcomes among this group will highlight gaps for future research. (2) Methods: A search of studies was conducted on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Embase Classic, Ovid Emcare, and Google Scholar, from earliest to June 2019. The population-intervention-comparator-outcomes-study design format determined inclusion criteria. (3) Results: 756 articles were retrieved; five met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Six-hundred-and-seventy night shift workers were from healthcare, industrial, and public safety industries. Dietary interventions included two longer-term nutrition programs and three shorter-term adjustments of meal composition, type, and timing. Outcome measures were varied but included weight and cardiometabolic health measures. Nutrition programs found no weight improvement at both six and 12 months; low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels decreased at six months. Triglycerides peaked after meals at 7:30 pm; glucose and insulin area under the curve peaked after meals at 11:30 pm. (4) Conclusions: Weight loss was not achieved in the studies reviewed but LDL-cholesterol improved. Future studies should investigate the effects of energy reduction and altering meal timing on cardiometabolic risk factors of night shift workers in randomised controlled trials, while assessing hunger, sleepiness, and performance.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009784 Occupational Diseases Diseases caused by factors involved in one's employment. Diseases, Occupational,Occupational Illnesses,Disease, Occupational,Illnesse, Occupational,Illnesses, Occupational,Occupational Disease,Occupational Illnesse
D004032 Diet Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal. Diets
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000073577 Shift Work Schedule Job schedule in which working hours deviate from the standard hours (e.g., evening shift, night shift or rotating shift). Night Shift Work,Rotating Shift Work,Schedule, Shift Work,Schedules, Shift Work,Shift Work, Night,Shift Work, Rotating,Work Schedule, Shift
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D013997 Time Factors Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations. Time Series,Factor, Time,Time Factor
D014940 Work Schedule Tolerance Physiological or psychological effects of periods of work which may be fixed or flexible such as flexitime, work shifts, and rotating shifts. Schedule Tolerance, Work,Schedule Tolerances, Work,Tolerance, Work Schedule,Tolerances, Work Schedule,Work Schedule Tolerances
D062407 Meals A portion of the food eaten for the day, usually at regular occasions during the day. Dinner,Dinner Time,Mealtimes,Dinnertime,Meal Time,Meal Times,Mealtime,Supper,Dinner Times,Dinners,Dinnertimes,Meal,Suppers,Time, Dinner,Time, Meal,Times, Dinner,Times, Meal

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