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Workforce & wellbeing
Shift-worker nutrition evidence: thin for responders
A Systematic Review of Nutrition Interventions for Shift Workers, With Subgroup Analysis of First Responder Populations
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026-10 · Added 4 October 2026
Systematic review of nutrition interventions for shift workers, with a pre-specified first-responder subgroup, found 43 eligible studies but most involved nurses and healthcare workers, with only a small minority in first-responder populations.
- Study type
- Systematic review
- Design
- Systematic review (PROSPERO-registered) with narrative synthesis and first-responder subgroup analysis
- Participants
- 43 studies from 6,909 screened articles
- Main finding
- Most included studies were crossover RCTs (49%) or observational (33%); 40% involved nursing and healthcare professionals and only 9% first responders such as firefighters and police
- Caveat
- Few first-responder studies and much of the evidence is observational, so conclusions for ambulance crews are indirect
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (High relevance). Shift work and its links to chronic disease are universal in Australian ambulance work, and dietary interventions don't depend on how a health system is organised.
Learning goal
Understand how shift-work nutrition strategies apply to paramedic fatigue and long-term health.
More
- Topic: Workforce & wellbeing
- Daily scan: 4 October 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 4 October 2026
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