Comparison of hedonic hunger, attention levels and nutritional status of adults according to changing shifts

Low cognitive performance, deterioration in short-term memory, insomnia and fatigue may occur in those who work outside of fixed shifts. This study aims to compare the hedonic hunger, attention level and nutritional status of all adult individuals between the ages of 19-64 working in a private company in the morning (07.00-15.00) and the next day (15.00-23.00) shift according to their shifts. Adult individuals aged 19-64 working in two different shifts in a sports center between December 2022 and May 2023 were included in this study. All the information of the individuals included in the study was obtained in the form of two interviews using face-to-face interview technique. In the first interview in the morning shift, a questionnaire form containing questions about descriptive characteristics, nutritional habits and physical activity status was applied to the individuals, and 1-day food consumption records were taken with anthropometric measurements. 4 weeks after the first interview, anthropometric measurements and 1-day food consumption records of the individuals were taken again during the evening shift, and the Power of Food Scale and the d2 Attention Test were applied to the individuals. The mean age of the individuals was 29.9±10.03 years. No statistically significant change was observed in the anthropometric measurements of female and male individuals within 4 weeks (p>0.05). It was determined that the average power of food scale score of the participants in the evening shift was higher than in the morning shift (p<0.05). According to the power of food scale score classification measured in the evening shift, it was observed that the mean body weight value of female individuals with hedonic hunger in the morning shift was higher than those without (p<0.05). In the evaluation of the attention test, which was measured in the morning and evening shifts, it was observed that the average percentage of the attention test in the morning shift was lower than in the evening shift (p<0.05). In the study, it was determined that the level of attention decreased as the age of the individuals increased. In the evening shift day, the average body weight value of women with good attention was higher than those with poor attention; body muscle mass value was found to be lower (p<0.05). In this study, it was determined that individuals with hedonic hunger had higher hip circumference and fat mass. In addition, it was observed that the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and hip circumference values were higher in those with poor attention status. On the other hand, it was determined that the Power of Food Scale scores increased as the attention status of the individuals worsened on both the evening and morning shift days. It was concluded that working in different shifts affects the nutritional status and attention performance of individuals.