Circadian misalignment of eating and sleep timing across shift types in male jute mill workers of West Bengal: a cross-sectional study

Shift work disrupts circadian rhythms governing sleep–wake and feeding cycles, yet chrononutrition data from South Asian industrial workers are absent. This cross-sectional study compared dietary energy, macronutrient intake and eating–sleep phase alignment across four shift groups among 110 male jute mill workers recruited across two districts (North 24 Parganas and Hooghly) between November 2025 and February 2026 in West Bengal, India [day (n = 30), morning rotational (n = 27), afternoon rotational (n = 28), night rotational (n = 25)]. Intake was assessed by 24-h recall; the eating–sleep phase angle quantified the angular difference between caloric and sleep midpoints. Energy intake differed significantly by shift (p < .001; ε2 = .354), lowest in morning rotators (1666 kcal/day) and highest in afternoon rotators (2216 kcal/day). Night workers showed circadian inversion (phase angle = −6.73 h) versus positive values among day, morning and afternoon workers (+10.23, +9.62, +10.43 h). Watson–Wheeler tests confirmed between-group heterogeneity (all p < .001) and rotating subgroups showed significantly lower protein percentage of energy after adjustment. Night workers demonstrated profound eating–sleep misalignment with elevated fat intake; morning rotators showed the greatest energy and protein deficit. Meal timing should be incorporated into nutritional risk assessment for shift workers.