SHift-working Investigation of Fasting and Timing (SHIFT) of diet: A cross-sectional assessment of nurses' dietary quality, fasting duration, and feasibility of completing a 7-day diet log.

Abstract

Nurses experience some barriers to healthy eating and weight loss that are different than the general population. This study examined diet timing and quality, and interest in time-restricted feeding (TRF), and compared diet quality between day and shift-working nurses. The cross-sectional SHift-working Investigation of Fasting Time and Diet Study was conducted among nurses (n = 123) in the United States. Diet was tracked for up to 7 days using the ASA24 to determine Energy-density Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII^TM) scores, Heathy Eating Index (HEI), and fasting duration. Self-reported demographics, psychosocial measures (e.g. stress and depression), and TRF anticipated barriers and facilitators were obtained. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to compare night/rotating and dayshift. The primarily white (86%) and female (95%) participants had a mean age and body mass index (BMI) of 34.1 ± 10.0 years and 27.3 ± 5.6 kg/m², respectively. Most participants (75%) expressed interest in TRF. Fasting duration was short (mean hours = 11.9), and diet quality poor (mean: E-DII score = -0.05; HEI score = 54.0). Night/rotating shift had more anti-inflammatory diets compared to dayshift (mean E-DII: night/rotating = 0.19 vs dayshift = 1.21; p = 0.04). Nurses have challenging barriers to improving weight. Since most nurses indicated interest in a TRF intervention, TRF may hold potential as a key dietary approach for nurses.