Impact of Nightshift Work on Overweight and Abdominal Obesity Among Workers of a Poultry Processing Plant in Southern Brazil

Abstract

The authors examined the associations of shiftwork with overweight and abdominal obesity through a cross-sectional study of 1206 employees 18 to 50 yrs of age who were working on a production line in a poultry processing plant. Night-shift workers (n = 800) were considered exposed, whereas day shiftworkers (n = 406) were considered nonexposed. Overweight was defined as a body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m(2) and abdominal obesity as a waist circumference ≥ 88 cm in women and ≥ 102 cm in men. The mean age of the workers was 30.5 yrs (standard deviation = 8.7 yrs), and 65.2% were women. Nightshift workers compared to dayshift workers showed higher prevalences of overweight (42.2% vs. 34.3%; p= .020) and abdominal obesity (24.9% vs. 19.5%; p = .037). After adjusting for sociodemographics, parental overweight status, behavioral characteristics, and sleep characteristics, including hours of sleep, the prevalence ratios for overweight and abdominal obesity were 1.27 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: 1.00-1.61) and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.10-1.92), respectively, for the nightshift workers compared to the dayshift workers. A consistent finding in our study was the independent contribution of night shiftwork to overweight and abdominal obesity among Brazilian workers. Further studies are needed to understand the biological mechanisms involved and the complex behavioral and social adaptations experienced by night-shift workers.

Associação entre privação do sono e obesidade em trabalhadores

“…A literatura científica recente tem apontado as características laborais, como longas jornadas de trabalho realizadas no esquema de trabalho por turnos, como importante fator de risco para aumento da prevalência de obesidade [13][14][15][16]. O trabalho por turnos compreende escalas de trabalho diferentes das oito horas diárias usuais de trabalho, que incluem trabalho no turno da noite, trabalho por turnos rotativos (nas três fases das 24 horas do dia) e trabalho com horários irregulares ou alternativos [17].…”

“…Atualmente, muitas empresas e instituições estão se movendo em direção a um padrão de funcionamento de 24 horas por dia. Dessa forma, uma quantidade crescente de indivíduos submete-se ao trabalho por turnos, o que leva a mudanças gerais de comportamento e rotina, incluindo restrição de horas de sono [15,16,[18][19][20].…”

Job characteristics and musculoskeletal pain among shift workers of a poultry processing plant in Southern Brazil

“…Participant age ranged from 18 to 52 years. The study was conducted with data originally collected for a larger project that sought to ascertain whether shift work is associated with overweight and abdominal obesity 14) . The sample for the present study comprised workers who had been employed by the company for at least 12 months, distributed across three distinct production line sectors (cutting floor, evisceration, and thermal processing).…”

Self-reported type 2 diabetes Mellitus is associated with abdominal obesity and poor perception of health in shift workers

“…The sample size was calculated to assess the association between work shift and obesity 12 based on the following presuppositions: confidence level of 95%; statistical power of 80%; unexposed: exposed ratio of 1:2 and risk ratio of 1:30. Sample size was increased by 10% to compensate for possible losses or refusals, so 1,125 workers were needed.…”

“…In addition, the http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1678-98652016000600003 workplace may function as an indirect contributing factor due to its characteristics, such as long working hours, stressing, insufficient occupational physical activity, and shift work 9,10 . The number of studies that investigated the occurrence of metabolic disorders in workers have increased [11][12][13][14] . Type 2 diabetes Mellitus symptoms can interfere on workers' quality of life and productivity, and this is an important occupational health aspect.…”