Why shift work is making your staff fat

With the established nine-to-five job slowly becoming less canonical, shift work – and flexible working – is on the rise.

And with it, potentially, is a higher risk of disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, digestive problems, and depression.

Writing for The Hippocratic Post, Annie Zimmerman, a Psychologist at the University of Oxford, explains why shift work leads to an increase in ‘chaotic eating’.  

“Irregular work hours impose irregular eating behaviours. As a consequence, shift workers, such as nurses or doctors, often lack structure in their dietary patterns. This eating style is known as ‘chaotic eating’. It refers to someone who eats at different times each day, with little attempt at meal planning. Whether it’s due to a hectic work schedule or you simply prefer to graze throughout the day, a lack of meal planning has been associated with an array of both physical and mental health conditions,” she writes.