As described in an article in the American Journal of Epidemiology, stressing out can cause people to put on weight. It is believed that this analysis is one of the first of its kind to examine at the relationship between weight gain and different types of stress. It looked at different types of stress that included job-related demands, difficulty paying bills, strained 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 conducted 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 study points out that women’s waistlines are affected by more types of stress. As discovered in the study, “Psychosocial Stress and Change in Weight Among U.S. Adults.” Along with weight gain associated with financial problems or a difficult job, women also added pounds when wrestling with tense family relationships and feeling restricted by life’s conditions.

For males, the numbers on the scale did not increase when tackling tense family relationships or feeling controlled by life circumstances. For men, lack of decision authority in the workplace and lack of skill discretion was related to greater weight increases. Skill discretion can be defined as the power to acquire new skills on the job and to engage in interesting job duties.

Overall, this study found that people who described raised psychological stress added more weight if they already had higher body mass indexes (BMI). A related weight-gain practice was not discovered among lower-weight people who were addressing the same types of stress, as reported in the research.

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

The study recommended that stress decrease may play 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 equipment 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.

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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