Assessing the impact of shift work on sleep, activity, energy balance and food choice in adults: The SWEAT Study

Varleen Kaur
MSc Student
Department of Biochemistry

Date: March 27, 2023
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm.
Room: CSF 1302

Shift work is associated with adverse health outcomes such as poor sleep quality, cardiovascular disease, cancer and metabolic syndrome. Shift work-caused disrupted sleep can affect the behavioural regulation of energy intake and expenditure due to circadian rhythm alteration. We want to explore some of the factors associated with the risk of adverse health outcomes in workers. We aim to compare the impact of shift and day work on food choice, sleep, and physical activity in adults. This is a field-based observational study using subjective and objective assessments of sleep and physical activity and two 24-hour online dietary recalls in shift workers. Day (n=11) and night (n=13) workers were recruited and had their free-living sleep and physical activity tracked via accelerometry, and completed two online web-based 24-hour food recall, during a series of work shifts. Along with that, data on chronotype and stress level were also collected. Our initial analysis shows that there was no statistically significant difference between BMI and body fat% in the two categories. Energy and other macronutrient intakes were not different between the two groups. Day workers had better sleep quality compared to shift workers. Shift workers had a higher score for physical activity. Future studies should focus on conducting a mixed methodology study with a larger sample size.