Unhealthy Food Choices among Healthcare Shift Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Shift healthcare workers are a group particularly exposed to an increased risk of poor eating habits and are affected by many diseases. The aim of the study was to evaluate the dietary patterns (DPs), including the Polish-adapted Mediterranean Diet (Polish-aMED (R)) score, and dietary fat intake in association with the shift work of healthcare workers. This cross-sectional study involved 445 healthcare workers from the West Pomeranian in Poland. Dietary data were collected using an FFQ-6 (R). A posteriori DPs were derived with a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The Polish-aMED (R) score and the individual's percentage of energy from dietary fat (Pfat) were calculated. Healthcare shift work compared to the daily work was associated with approximately 2-times higher odds of adherence to the 'Meat/fats/alcohol/fish' DP in the upper tertile (OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 1.27-4.47; p < 0.01) and higher Pfat >35% of total energy intake (OR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.06-2.83; p < 0.05). Healthcare shift work compared to the daily work was associated with approximately 50% lower odds of adherence to the 'Pro-healthy' DP in the middle tertile (OR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.26-0.89; p < 0.05) and a higher level of the Polish-aMED (R) score (OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.33-0.98; p < 0.05), as well as lower odds of the constants of mealtime (OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.33-0.89; p < 0.05). The obtained findings highlight the unhealthy food choices among shift healthcare workers. Thus, to avoid the negative health consequences, there is a need for nutritional education for healthcare workers, especially those working shifts.

Automated summary

The study found that shift healthcare workers are more likely to have unhealthy dietary patterns and higher dietary fat intake. They are also less likely to adhere to healthy dietary patterns and mealtime regularity.