Shift work may promote unhealthy lifestyle

By Janice Neumann (Reuters Health) – Shift work may lead to a poor diet and too little exercise, accounting for at least some of the increased health risks seen among people who work changing hours or regular overnights, a new study suggests. Tracking airline employees in Finland, researchers found that people who worked varying shifts and night shifts on the ground consumed more fat and fewer vegetables and fruits than daytime ground personnel and in-flight workers. “The occupational health care unit personnel had noticed that many shift workers had health risks,” said Katri Hemio, a nutritionist at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki who led the study. Previous research has shown that shift workers have an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, Hemio and coauthors note in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.