PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND WEIGHT-GAIN IN RELATION TO NIGHT WORK INA NURSES COHORT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between exposure to night work and prevalence of overweight and weight gain. DESIGN: Longitudinal obs ervational study. SUBJECTS: 469 nurses (age: 21-58 y). MEASUREMENTS: B ody Mass Index, exposure to night work, age. parity, smoking and sport s activities in 1980, 1985 and 1990. RESULTS: Prevalence of overweight was associated with exposure to night work in 1980 and weight gains ( especially those exceeding 7 kg) were more frequent among nurses on ni ght work than on daytime work between 1985 and 1990. CONCLUSION: Expos ure to night work can lead to weight gain and overweight.