Does a healthy diet work despite shift work?

Eating at shift work: No general recommendations possible

Over 6.2 million people in Germany work in alternating shifts; 5.5 million even at night. The work-related shift in the rhythm of life and work leads to special burdens. Shift workers work when the body is set for regeneration and they sleep when the body actually expects food and activity. The main body functions such as hunger, digestion, sleep, etc. are controlled by an internal clock. There are so-called morning types (larks), which wake up early and are fast performing, and evening types (owls), which are awake and active in the evening.

Most people, however, are mixed types. Many hormones important for eating behavior and digestion (eg leptin, ghrelin, insulin) are also subject to a daily rhythm. Accordingly, shift workers have an increased likelihood of developing sleep disorders, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular or metabolic diseases.

The usual time windows for food during the day are often not met by shiftworkers. Many go to bed without breakfast, lunch shifts to the afternoon. Working in the late shift least disturbs the "normal" rhythm. Breakfast and lunch are usually eaten at "normal" times at home. A snack and dinner are then available at the workplace. The problem with diet is the night shift. The organism is not fed at night and the availability of food is limited (eg when the canteen is closed). After a night shift, 75 percent of night workers forgo breakfast and only eat when they sleep.

Many shift workers tend to eat snacks more often than a "proper" meal. Although there are a number of guides brochures and web pages with recommendations on diet for shiftwork, but - writes Professor Dr. med. Manfred Betz from the University of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen in Gießen in the journal "Nutrition in Focus": "The findings on the effects of shiftwork on health are on the whole rather than scanty". The same applies to the effects of the dietary behavior of shift workers on their health. From the often contradictory research results, no general recommendations for the diet of shiftworkers can be derived.

Effective approaches to improving the nutritional situation exist at the workplace and personal level. These include z. Eg a re-thinking of shift duration, shift type and break times, the opening hours of the canteen, the atmosphere in the break room or a sufficient number of vending machines with healthy snacks.Renate Kessen, bzfe