For many essential workers, this advice may feel impossible to implement.
Night shifts are common in the Netherlands, with 1.3 million people working them occasionally. Studies have long confirmed the associated health risks. The Health Council reports that night work increases sleep disorder risk by 1.5 to 2 times.
Long-term consequences are also significant: night shifts raise the odds of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with risks escalating the longer you continue.
In 2006, the Council linked night work to breast cancer, but recent long-term studies and new data no longer support this finding.
