The Association between Dietary Diversity with Shift Work among the Nurses

Background: Nutrition is related to different health problems. Working in shifts has been identified as one of the factors associated with overweight and obesity. This study was performed to assess the association between food intake and dietary diversity with shift work among nurses. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 270 nurses working in hospitals under the supervision of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. A three-day 24-h food recall was used to evaluate food intake and diversity, Blood pressure (mmhg), fasting blood glucose (mg/dl), insulin (μm/ml), lipid profile (mg/d), serum levels of cobalamin (ng/l), folic acid (pg/l) and anthropometric indices were also evaluated. Results: Mean age of subjects was 35.01 ± 6.52 years. Mean dietary diversity scores (by Kant and IDDS methods) were 4.68 ± 1.18 and 5.77 ± 1.25, respectively. Among study participants the mean weight (p<0.03), waist circumference (p<0.02) and hip circumference (p<0.001) showed a significant difference across the tertiles of Kant dietary diversity score. A significant difference was seen in terms of body mass index (BMI) and WHR (p<0.03). This means that by increasing dietary diversity score, average height and weight reduces. It was also seen that by increasing the dietary diversity score, systolic blood pressure decreased and serum folic acid level increased, though these changes were statistically insignificant. In the Kant method, weight and hip circumference were increased in dietary diversity in the morning shift (p=0.05). In the FAO method, insulin and vitamin B9 (Folic acid) levels decreased by increasing dietary diversity in the morning shift. However, the serum level of vitamins B9 (Folic acid) and B12 was increased by the increment of dietary diversity in the rotating shift. Conclusion: Anthropometric factors are decreased by increasing the dietary diversity. It was also found that the mean of some anthropometric indices was higher in the morning shift. Higher dietary diversity and lower carbohydrate intake was also seen in the morning shift.