Study of the relationship between the circadian rhythm and the hedonic and homeostatic states of hunger in adults

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between circadian rhythm, hedonic hunger and physical activity status in individuals engaged in shift work. The study was conducted with 182 individuals (97 males, 85 females) residing in Ankara, Balıkesir and Konya provinces who met the inclusion criteria. The sociodemographic characteristics, dietary habits, hedonic hunger status of the participants, daily cyclic rhythms BRIAN, circadian rhythms and chronotypes MEQ, physical activity IPAQ and anthropometric measurements were obtained through a face-to-face survey. Of the participants, 38,46% were engaged in shift work, 19,23% occasionally worked in shifts and 42,31% worked in a normal schedule. The eating pattern varied on normal and shift working days according to shift working status (p<0,05). The MEQ indicated that 49,45% of the participants were in the intermediate chronotype. Hedonic hunger was found in 58,57% of regular shift workers, 42,86% of occasional shift workers and 54,55% of non-shift workers. A total of 53,30% of the participants exhibited biological rhythm irregularity. Hedonic hunger was found to be higher in individuals who had not been diagnosed with any disease compared to those who had been diagnosed with a disease (p<0.05). Furthermore, hedonic hunger was found to be higher in 24-hour shift workers than in 16-hour shift workers (p<0,05). There was no significant relationship between hedonic hunger and shift work, educational status, BMI, waist, hip, upper middle arm circumference, or gender (p>0.05). A weak relationship in the same direction was observed between the participants' PFS and MEQ scores (r=0,253; p<0,05). However, no significant correlation was found between PFS scores BRIAN and IPAQ (p>0,05). The proportion of participants who were inactive was 43,41%, those who were minimally active was 30,77%, and those who were very active was 25,82%. Furthermore, a significant difference was observed between shift work status in the IPAQ moderate severity and walking MET min/week sub-dimensions (p<0,05). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that circadian rhythm is associated with hedonic hunger. Prolonged shift durations result in circadian rhythm disturbances and an increase in hedonic hunger. No significant relationship was found between physical activity and hedonic hunger. Individuals may be aided in aligning their dietary habits with their circadian rhythms by implementing suitable dietary strategies during extended shift work periods and in situations that may disrupt the circadian cycle.