Work stress and its relationship with nutrition in Turgut Özal Medical center employees

Aim: Internal, social and many factors affect eating behavior. This interaction paves the way for the occurrence of many diseases. This study is aimed at the purposes of the relationship between work stress level and attitudes and behaviors. Material and Method: This study was conducted on 135 nurses and 97 health technicians who are working in a Turgut Ozal Medical Center. The socio-demographic characteristics and habits of the healthcare professionals' informations were obtained by the Three Factor Nutrition Questionnaire and the Work Stress Level Scale. In statistical analysis, normality distribution tests, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and significance tests of the difference between two means were used. The reality value p was accepted as p<0.05. Results: 66.4% of participants are women. Employees in the internal unit have the largest percentage. Approximately 3/2 of the participants do not smoke. Those without chronic illness (84.1%) are in the majority. It was found that 57.8% of participants were married. A significant difference was not found between the socio-demographic characteristics of the individuals and their average nutritional score. No significant difference was found between the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants and their stress score averages. Only professional seniority was found to be significantly associated with unbounded eating habits. A thoughtful relationship was found between the gender variable and Emotional eating. A significant relationship was found between the gender, smoking status, chronic disease and restricting eating consciously. A significant relationship was found between the gender and sensitivity to hunger. Conclusion: In order to provide self-control of individuals in their food consumption; they must acquire different pursuits and they Mustprepare satisfying dishes when they feel emotional intensity. Individuals should be aware of those who directly affect nutrition, such as cigarette consumption and chronic diseases, and the importance of adequate and balanced nutrition should be explained. Key Words: Nutritional status, work stress, obesity, eating behavior