Research on the Effect of Stress on Obesity

Studies Suggest Stress is the Biggest Contributor to Being Overweight
October 2006

Adult obesity rates increased in 31 states during the past year, leaving an estimated two-thirds of Americans vulnerable to fatal diseases such as diabetes, stroke and cancer. This, despite federal and state government efforts to curb the overweight epidemic, according to a new report from the Trust for America's Health - entitled F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing America, 2006 .

According to official figures, the adult obesity rate rose from 15 percent in 1980 to 32 percent in 2004. Combine that with the number of Americans who are overweight but not obese, and the figure stands at 64 percent. And the childhood obesity rate more than tripled between 1980 and 2004, from 5 percent to 17 percent.

"The most important news in this report is that the obesity epidemic in America is getting worse," Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said at a press conference on the report. "The percentage of obese adults exceeds 25 percent in 13 states. That should sound some serious alarm bells."

Stress has been shown to be a major factor in weight gain and obesity. "Stress disrupts people's normal eating habits," researcher, Dr. Daryl O'Connor, said in an interview on a University of Leeds study focused on the effects of stress on eating. "Stress causes people to opt for unhealthy high-fat and high-sugar snacks in preference to healthier food choices. Also, people under stress eat less than usual in their main meals, including their vegetable intake, but shift their preference to high-fat/high-sugar snacks instead." People who experienced one or more of minor stressful events reported eating many more between-meal snacks than usual but fewer portions of vegetables and a smaller main meal. The study also found that mental stress was more likely to cause people to snack than physical stress.

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