Stress Creates Weight Increases

Written by Dave Owen

Friday, 27 November 2009 09:19

As shown in an article in the American Journal of Epidemiology, stressing out does cause people to gain weight. It is believed that this analysis is among the first of its sort to examine at the relationship between weight increase and different types of stress. It looked at different types of stress that included job-related demands, difficulty paying off bills, tense family relationships, depression or anxiety disorder.

by DaveOwen

As described in an article in the American Journal of Epidemiology, stressing out can cause people to gain weight. It is believed that this study is one of the first of its kind to look at the relationship between weight increase and multiple types of stress. It looked at different types of stress that included job-related demands, difficulty paying bills, strained home life, depression or anxiety disorder.

"Today's economy is stressing people out, and stress has been linked to a number of illnesses - such as heart disease, high blood pressure and increased risk for cancer. This study shows that stress is also linked to weight gain" as described by Jason Block, M.D., M.P.H.. Dr Block is the person that directed the study as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health ... Society Scholar at Harvard University. Block practices internal medicine at Brigham ... Women's Hospital and is on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

The research shows that women's waistlines are affected by more types of stress. As ascertained in the study, "Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight Among U.S. Adults." Along with weight gain associated with financial troubles or a difficult job, women also added pounds when confronting tense family relationships and feeling restricted by life's conditions.

For men, the numbers on the scale did not go up when facing tense family relationships or feeling limited by life circumstances. Among men, want of decision authority in the workplace and want of skill discretion was related to greater weight increases. Skill discretion can be defined as the ability to learn new skills on the job and to engage in interesting job duties.

In general, this study found that people who described increased psychological stress added more weight if they already had higher body mass indexes (BMI). A related weight-gain pattern was not discovered among lower-weight people who were dealing with similar types of stress, as reported in the study.

When coping with life's stressful periods, individuals may change their eating patterns, and this can lead to changes in weight. Stress stimulated weight gain is influenced by an individual's gender, what types of foods people eat when they change their eating behaviors, and whether the person is already overweight or obese. These factors may cause some individuals to gain additional weight under stressful circumstances. But sometimes others may gain less weight or some times even lose weight under stress.

The study recommended that stress decrease may be an important part of weight-loss programs in the workplace and in clinical and public health programs. In the workplace, admittance to weight-loss programs, flexible work schedules and exercise programs can help stressed-out workers.

"This is one of the first studies to explore the relationship between stress and weight gain," Block said. "Our findings show that stress should be recognized as a threat to the well-being of adults, especially those who are already overweight.

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Here is your free guide to healthful cooking. For more information about some of the causes of childhood obesity visit Facts About Childhood Obesity.

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