In recent times there are a lot of changes in sleeping and eating habits of the man due to 24X7 lifestyle. Entry of electricity and artificial light into our life has played a great role in changing our lifestyle. Television has also played an important role in developing the habit of sleeping late at night. Shift from agriculture profession to office jobs has occurred at a very rapid pace in recent times. Profession-related compulsions have resulted in circadian disruption to a great extent for example increasing night shift working culture is affecting sleeping patterns along with changes in eating routines and food preferences. In the last two decades, internet and social media addiction can be considered a major factor responsible for circadian disruption of sleep. At present, there is a trend of sleeping for a lesser duration along with frequent sleep disruption due to various factors. Similarly, meal timings have also become irregular. Instead of 3 meals a day we are taking caloric diets more than 3 times a day due to the easy availability of packed snacks and fast foods. It is now a well-known fact that circadian disruption is the cause of several health disorders. The present study is an attempt to find out the extent of circadian disruption of sleep and meal timings in a sample population of inhabitants of an Indian hill state Himachal Pradesh. We observed a significant sleep fragmentation, circadian disruption, reduction in sleep duration, unhealthy food preferences, and irregular routine of meal timings, which possibly may have direct or indirect adverse consequences on health.

Circadian rhythms, Fast Food, Health, Lifestyle, Sleep