0124 Sleep, Meal Timing And Motivations For Eating In Australian Flight Attendants

Abstract Introduction Flight attendants’ work unusual schedules, travelling over multiple time zones, in confined and controlled spaces. Specific health issues in flight attendants include chronic circadian misalignment and gastrointestinal disease. This study examined flight attendants sleep and meal timing and how their unique working environment impacted eating patterns and behaviors. Methods N=31 Australian flight attendants (8 males, BMI 26.1 ± 3.9, 23 females, BMI 25.0 ± 4.9; age range 22–61 years) were asked to recall a typical shift and complete an online sleep and meal/snack timing questionnaire that also included questions about motivations for why, what and when they ate while at work. Two-way, between-subjects ANOVAs were conducted to assess differences in sleep duration between days on and days off. Results Flight attendants average length of duty was 11.1 ± 3.1h and length of flight was 8.8 ± 3.8h. A main effect of sleep duration between days on (M=5.19h, SD=1.57h) and days off (M=7.63h, SD=1.19h), F(1,29)=68.1, p=