Getting enough sleep could counteract negative effects of shift work

A study from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has found that while it may not be easy, getting at least seven hours of sleep a day could lessen the negative health consequences for those who do shifts outside the 9-to-5 schedule. Using 2008-2012 data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, researchers found that shift workers were significantly more likely to be overweight (47.9% vs. 34.7% for traditional schedule workers). They also had more sleep problems, including insomnia (23.6% vs. 16.3%) and insufficient sleep (53.0% vs. 42.9%). Led by Dr. Marjory Givens, the team found sleep problems to be positively associated with being overweight/obese or diabetic, and they found that the association between shiftwork and being overweight or diabetic was stronger when shiftworkers got insufficient sleep (less than seven hours per day).