Dietary Behaviour Is Associated with Cardiometabolic and Psychological Risk Indicators in Female Hospital Nurses—A Post-Hoc, Cross-Sectional Study

• Main Authors: Tasuku Terada, Matheus Mistura, Heather Tulloch, Andrew Pipe, Jennifer Reed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: Profile of Mood States (POMS); obesity; nutrition; shift-work
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/9/2054

Unfavourable dietary behaviours of female nurses, especially among shift-working nurses, including high snacking frequency, short fasting period and large day-to-day energy intake variability may be linked with adverse health. In this study we: (1) examined the relationship between dietary behaviour and cardiometabolic and psychological health in female nurses; and, (2) compared dietary behaviour, cardiometabolic and psychological health between shift-working and non-shift-working female nurses. A total of 73 nurses had their cardiometabolic health indicators evaluated and completed psychological health questionnaires; 55 completed a 3-day dietary log. Associations between dietary behaviour and health measures were examined using Spearman&#8217;s partial correlation analysis. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare dietary behaviour and health indicators between shift- and non-shift-working nurses. The majority of snacks consumed by nurses (70%) were unhealthy snacks (e.g., chocolate and chips), and higher snacking frequency was associated with greater percent body fat (r(50) = 0.287, <i>p</i> = 0.039), and worse mood-tension (r(48) = 0.327, <i>p</i> = 0.021) and anger-hostility (r(48) = 0.289, <i>p</i> = 0.042) scores. Day-to-day energy intake variability was positively associated with body mass index (BMI, r(50) = 0.356, <i>p</i> = 0.010) and waist circumference (r(50) = 0.283, <i>p</i> = 0.042). Shift-working nurses exhibited shorter fasting duration, larger day-to-day energy intake variability and higher total mood disturbance score when compared to their non-shift-working colleagues (all <i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). The results of the present study suggested that addressing dietary behaviours may improve the cardiometabolic and psychological health of female nurses. Shift-working nurses may require a more specific dietary program to improve their psychological health.