Shift Work Increases Risk of Poor Health

By LeAnn Thieman. This was originally published on LeAnn's blog.

Research has proven that smoking, a poor diet, inactivity, and being overweight/obese increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

And according to an article in BMJ, shift work also increases risk.

The researchers analyzed data from more than 143,000 U.S. women who did not have type 2 diabetes, heart disease or cancer when they enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study in 1976 and 1989.

Over 22 to 24 years of follow-up, nearly 11,000 of the women were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. For every five years of working rotating night shifts, there was a 31 percent higher risk of a type 2 diabetes diagnosis!

Each unhealthy lifestyle factor…smoking, overweight or obesity, poor diet, inactivity… was linked with a 2.3 times higher risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Women who had any of the four unhealthy lifestyle factors and worked rotating night shifts had the highest risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Among this group, each individual unhealthy lifestyle factor was associated with a 2.8 times increased risk.

The researchers concluded that rotating night-shift work accounted for about 17 percent of the combined higher risk of type 2 diabetes, unhealthy lifestyle accounted for about 71 percent, and the remaining 11 percent was associated with the interaction of the two.

The results show it’s especially important for shift workers to follow a healthy lifestyle.

​To learn more ways to create wellness programs for happier, less stressed, more engaged employees, visit SelfCare for HealthCare™.  
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