title: Does maintaining or changing shift types affect BMI? A longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the impact of maintaining or changing shift work status on body mass index (BMI) among female nurses and midwives.
  
  
  METHODS
  A longitudinal study. Measurements included day work maintainers, shift work maintainers, day to shift changers and shift to day changers, changes in BMI, and potential confounders selected from baseline survey. Repeated measures analysis of covariance was employed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The shift to day changers had decreased in BMI over the follow-up period (mean, -3.02; SD, 5.45; P < 0.001). In contrast, the shift work maintainers and the day to shift changers had increased in BMI over follow-up period (mean, 0.56; SD, 5.47; P = 0.01 and mean, 0.13; SD, 5.64; P = 0.04, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The analysis suggests that shift work could increase BMI.
authors.affiliation: University of Queensland, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bogossian
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D008880:Midwifery; D009043:Motor Activity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009729:Nursing; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D012907:Smoking; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult