PP179 - A SHORT-TERM TIME-RESTRICTED EATING IMPROVES BODY WEIGHT AND BODY COMPOSITION IN HEALTHCARE ROTATING SHIFT-WORKERS: A RANDOMIZED CROSSOVER CLINICAL TRIAL.

PP179

A SHORT-TERM TIME-RESTRICTED EATING IMPROVES BODY WEIGHT AND BODY COMPOSITION IN HEALTHCARE ROTATING SHIFT-WORKERS: A RANDOMIZED CROSSOVER CLINICAL TRIAL.

C. L. Chávez Rivera¹, A. Beaumont¹, D. González¹, M. Castro², D. Riveros¹, R. Peralta³, P. Rojas¹, R. Chamorro^1,*

¹Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, ²School of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, ³Directorate of Nutrition and Food Programs, National Institute of Food and Nutrition, Asunción, Paraguay

Rationale: Time-restricted eating (TRE) has been proposed as a nutritional strategy to promote weight loss and metabolic function, but just a few studies have evaluated its impact in shift-workers. We evaluated the effects of a short-term TRE on weight, body composition, and bone mineral density (BMD) in healthcare workers undergoing shiftwork.  

Methods: This was a randomized crossover clinical trial including 22 healthcare workers aged 37.6±9.6 years, 95.5% female, BMI of 29.4±4.9 kg/m², and central adiposity of 95.6±12.6 cm who work under rotating shifts. Participants completed two 8-week conditions, separated by a ≥30-day washout: (i) TRE (≤10 h/day self-selected eating window, with mandatory fasting between 00:00–06:00 h) and (ii) regular eating (REG; usual dietary habits without time restrictions). Complete anthropometry was assessed. Body composition (fat mass [FM], lean mass [LM], and BMD, was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; Lunar Prodigy Advance). Linear mixed models with random intercepts, adjusted for age, sex, and baseline BMI, were used to analyze the intervention, time, and their interaction (ꞵ coefficients; p <0.05). 

Results: TRE induced a reduction in body weight (ꞵ -3.14 kg; 95%CI -4.56 to -1.72; p<0.001), BMI (ꞵ -1.20 kg/m²; 95%CI -1.75 to -0.65; p<0.001), FM (ꞵ -1.31 kg; 95%CI -2.36 to -0.25; p=0.015), as well as FFM (ꞵ -1.05 kg; 95%CI -1.73 to -0.36; p=0.003) and appendicular muscle mass index (ꞵ -0.25 kg/m²; 95%CI -0.41 to -0.10; p=0.001). TRE did not modify BMD or bone mineral content (BMC).

Conclusion: Short-term TRE favorable changes in anthropometric and body composition variables in overweight shift workers at high metabolic risk. While a viable dietary strategy for populations with circadian disruption, interventions to mitigate FFM loss should be considered. [Funding: Fondecyt, ANID Chile #12230075 to RC]. 

Disclosure of Interest: None declared