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9/22/09 3:12 P

I worked 3rd shift in my late 20s to early 30s. It worked for me. I'd work at night, go play in the mountains with my dog by day, sleep in the evening before going back to work. I was fit and trim. I was single and not really looking just enjoying life.

My friend who has a horse farm has been on third and it doesn't work for her at all. I've tried to get her to do the stay up during the day and sleep in the evening. I like work to happen first, then my time, then sleep. She likes 2nd shift.

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9/14/09 3:24 P

When I worked nights I was much younger (20-24) so I'm sure my youthly resilience played a part in my acclimating w/o weight gain. I do remember having challenges w/ being able to control my bladder. I know it sounds weird but I had to pee ALL the time and sometimes I didnt make it.. its as if my body was telling me not to work graveyards. Which in the long run it was true, I was held up several times during those worknights!

I really believe in the circadian thing. I met someone who was medically discharged from the Air Force because she literally couldnt keep the same schedule as the rest of us. Another thing.. it is proven that teens have a totally different cycle and their getting up for 0800 school is almost impossible for them. I'd agree having taught h.s.

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9/12/09 6:19 P

K strange since I have known many who work nights including my husband who are NOT over weight, some of them are actually underweight.

I think getting proper sleep is more to do with it then when you really eat - since I know for me when I was getting really good sleep I did louse weight and have a world of a lot more energy. Without changing when I eat or work (i'm a night owl by birth).

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9/12/09 11:47 A

Me too! Wow. The good news is that I've read there are ways one can change their circadian rhythm.

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9/11/09 9:38 A

Interesting.... I read a similar study using mice. The problem I had with the study was that they were waking the mice up and feeding them. The culprit there could have also been insufficient sleep, stress from being woken up, eating when not hungry... which could all be factors for shift workers as well...

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9/11/09 9:01 A

"One of our research interests is shift workers, who tend to be overweight,"
Wow, I never realized this, but now that I think about it, all the graveyard shifters I've known have always been fat.

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9/11/09 3:53 A

A Northwestern University study has found that eating at irregular times -- the equivalent of the middle of the night for humans, when the body wants to sleep -- influences weight gain. The regulation of energy by the body's circadian rhythms may play a significant role. The study is the first causal evidence linking meal timing and increased weight gain.

"How or why a person gains weight is very complicated, but it clearly is not just calories in and calories out," said Fred Turek, professor of neurobiology and physiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology. "We think some factors are under circadian control. Better timing of meals, which would require a change in behavior, could be a critical element in slowing the ever-increasing incidence of obesity."

"One of our research interests is shift workers, who tend to be overweight," said lead author Deanna M. Arble, a doctoral student in Turek's lab. "Their schedules force them to eat at times that conflict with their natural body rhythms. This was one piece of evidence that got us thinking -- eating at the wrong time of day might be contributing to weight gain. So we started our investigation with this experiment."

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162922.p
hp

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