As shown in a report in the American Journal of Epidemiology, stressing out can cause people to increase in weight. It is thought that this analysis is one of the first of its sort to examine at the relationship between weight increase and different types of stress. It examined different types of stress that included job-related demands, difficulty paying bills, tense family relationships, 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 individual that directed the research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health … Society Scholar at Harvard University. Block practices internal medicine at Brigham … Woman’s Hospital and is on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
The research points out that women’s waistlines are affected by a number of types of stress. As discovered in the study, “Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight Among U.S. Adults.” Along with weight gain affiliated with money troubles or a difficult job, women also added pounds when confronting strained family relationships and feeling restricted by life’s conditions.
For men, the numbers on the scale did not increase when confronting difficult family relationships or feeling controlled by life circumstances. Among men, lack of decision authority in the workplace and want of skill discretion was affiliated with greater weight increases. Skill discretion can be characterized as the ability to learn new skills on the job and to perform interesting job duties.
Overall, this research found that people who described increased psychological stress put on 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 research.
When coping with life’s stressful times, individuals may change their eating behaviors, which can lead to changes in weight. Stress induced weight gain is acted upon by an individual’s gender, what types of foods they eat when they modifiy their eating behaviors, and whether the person is already overweight or obese. These factors have been shown to cause some people to put on additional weight under stressful circumstances. While others may gain less weight or some times even lose weight under stress.
The study suggested 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, access 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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