Taylor, Yvonne and James, Lois and Hesketh, Ian (2025) Development and evaluation of a diet and exercise intervention for promoting sleep, health, and wellbeing within the UK home office police forces. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles, 98 (4): 0032258X25.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
This study tested the impact of a diet and exercise intervention on its impact on self-rated sleep, health, and wellbeing among a sample (n = 64) of UK police officers and staff. Using a pre- and post-intervention testing design, UK police officers and staff were exposed to a month-long diet and exercise intervention. Measurement before and after the intervention included self-rated sleep quantity, sleep quality, and sleep latency (how long it took to fall asleep), as well as self-rated satisfaction with health and wellbeing. Study results revealed that the training significantly improved officer self-reported sleep (+31 minutes per 24 h period) and reduced self-reported sleep latency (−12 minutes). Furthermore, ratings of satisfaction with health and wellbeing improved. This study indicates that promoting diet and exercise among police officers and staff might be beneficial to sleep health. Health and safety management has traditionally been a reactive process. However, a more proactive approach to risk management has many benefits in terms of improving quality of life, along with reputational, budgetary and community safety benefits. Sleepiness is both a personal and organizational risk factor, hence mitigating sleepiness should be approached as a shared responsibility.