Night workers SThey must have difficulty maintaining healthy eating and balance their family and social relationships. Health experts have identified strategies to prevent long -term problems.
When Samantha Shaw accepted a job as a research technique in a study on sleep at the Brigham and Women’s hospital in 2021, she felt she worked in a cause close to her life.
Since high school, I had experienced problems reconciling and resting properly. Therefore, he did not hesitate to take the opportunity to collaborate with specialists in the subject.
The researchers analyzed whether a medicine could help reduce day drowsiness in those who worked in night shifts, especially in sectors such as transport and construction, whose start schedules ranged between 3:00 and 7:00 hours.
Shaw, 27, her work was fascinating, although she also made her a worker with rotary shifts. It started between 2:00 and 4:00, I returned home in the afternoon and used around 6:00 p.m. Despite exhaustion, I had difficulty sleeping and sometimes rested less than five hours. He began to consume up to six cups of coffee a day, sick frequently and had little time to socialize.
Night labor risks
The insomnia, The poor sleep quality and its short duration are common problems among the 11 million night workers In the United States, according to federal authorities. In addition, those who work in shifts often have difficulties in carrying a healthy diet and maintaining personal relationships.
This can lead to serious health consequences, warns Jeanne Duffy, professor at Harvard’s Faculty of Medicine, who co -directed the study at the Brigham and Women’s hospital.
Research suggests that workers with rotating shifts have a higher risk of gastrointestinal disorders, mood alterations and cardiovascular diseases. They are also more likely to suffer traffic accidents and develop infections such as colds, flu and stomach viruses.
“All our physiology is designed to sleep at night and be awake during the day,” Duffy explained. “When a person tries to stay awake at night, he is fighting his internal biology.”
Night workers also have a higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetesaccording to Michelle Drerup, director of the Cleveland Clinic Behavioral Medicine Program. Part of this problem is due to the difficulty of accessing healthy eating at those schedules.
When eating time comes during an early morning shift, the options are usually limited to vending machines, which makes it difficult to wear a balanced diet, Drerup explained.
In addition, night schedules have been described in scientific literature as “little social”, since they conflict with the usual rhythms of society. This can affect family dynamics and, as in the case of Shaw, hinder socialization.
According to Imelda Wong, epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health of British Columbia, if a worker tries to “follow the rhythm of his social and health responsibilities” sacrificing his rest, he will have less time to recover from work effort.
Recommendations to cope with night work
Sleep experts recommend night workers to adopt healthy habits similar to those of those who work at daytime schedules.
Maintaining a balanced diet is key to preventing chronic diseases associated with shift work. Drerup advises to prepare healthy foods, such as vegetables, hummus, fresh fruits and almonds, to take work.
“Planning is fundamental,” he said. A useful strategy is to cook in large quantities free days and freeze individual portions to consume during the week.
If the energy declines during the turn, a short nap of 15 to 20 minutes in a quiet place can help improve the alert, Duffy recommended.
To facilitate sleep when returning home, the consumption of caffeine must be controlled. Drerup suggests limiting himself to a maximum of two cups of coffee in the early hours of the turn and avoiding it in the four or five hours prior to rest.
Once at home, mitigating the lights helps induce sleep, since bright light sends signals to the body to stay awake, Wong explained.
The rest must start as soon as possible. To improve sleep quality, it is advisable to use opaque curtains, masks and white noise machines, Drerup added.
If you have daytime responsibilities, such as picking up children at school, you can schedule a nap before and after those interruptions to minimize fatigue.
Shared responsibility
Although workers can adopt habits that mitigate the effects of night work on their health, employers must also take measures to protect them, Wong said.
The National Institute of Occupational Health and Health recommends to avoid assigning consecutive night shifts, keep the days in a maximum of eight hours and provide adequate pauses for rest and food.
After more than two years working at night, Shaw understood how harmful health. The study in which he participated concluded in April, and took about four months to recover his normal sleep rhythm.
When asked if he would work back at night, he replied with uncertainty. It would depend on the project, he admitted, “because my physical and mental health affected.”