AH-INT-204

The Effect of Shift Work on Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Intake: Analysis of the Airwave Cohort

The core objective of this study is to explore how shift work affects the nutritional composition and timing of dietary intake, providing evidence to find the mechanisms linking shift work to cardiometabolic risks. We aim to obtain access to relevant datasets from the Airwave Health Monitoring Study.

Workplace environments can influence dietary choices and long-term health. Shift work—defined as working outside the regular hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.—has been proven to be associated with adverse cardiometabolic health outcomes, and changes in dietary behaviors may be a key mediating factor. The Airwave Health Monitoring Study comprises a large cohort of British police officers and staff. Its second wave of dietary data specifically records shift patterns, as well as the timing and nutritional information of dietary intake. This dataset is readily available for direct analysis, offering unique support for the research.

Our study will focus on three core areas: analyzing the association between shift work and dietary intake patterns; assessing changes in dietary nutritional quality and intake timing across different work schedules; and examining the potential mechanisms linking shift work to cardiometabolic risks.

This study does not require biological samples. We only request access to the existing second-wave dietary datasets from the Airwave Health Monitoring Study (including shift patterns, dietary nutrition, and intake timing information) and will not need to re-contact participants.