Stress and weight gain unconnected
Source: Agencies |
November 2, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
STRESSED and gaining weight? The stress - and the exercise-slacking or chocolate-munching it breeds - may not actually be the main culprit.
Despite the common belief that stress causes people to pack on weight by reaching for junk food or avoiding exercise, it appears to have only small, long-term impact at most, according to a study.
A review of 36 previously published studies on stress and weight gain led by Jane Wardle, of University College London, found that the majority showed no association between people's stress levels and their weight gain over several years.
When the study appeared in "Obesity," - the official journal of the Obesity Society - combined the results of the research, there was only a modest association between stress and weight gain.
"We assumed that there would be a substantial association between stress and obesity, since the popular view is that stress contributes to weight gain," said Andrew Steptoe, who also took part in the study, in an e-mail to Reuters Health.
"When we looked carefully at scientific studies, effects were surprisingly small."
The reviews analyzed studies conducted mainly in the 1990s and 2000s.
All assessed participants' stress levels, then followed the subjects over time to see whether there was a relationship between stress and subsequent weight gain.
Most followed participants for one to seven years, but a few were longer term -projects that followed people for up to 38 years. Some focused on work stress, while others covered general life stress - such as divorce or bereavement.
Overall, 69 percent of the studies found no clear association between stress levels and weight gain, while 25 percent linked higher stress levels to greater weight gain.
The last six percent found that greater stress was related to less weight gain over time.
Once all the results were pooled, there was a modest association between higher stress levels and greater weight gain - a connection stronger among men than among women.
Steptoe warned that while the impact of stress on weight may be small on average, there was still the possibility of wide individual variations.
Despite the common belief that stress causes people to pack on weight by reaching for junk food or avoiding exercise, it appears to have only small, long-term impact at most, according to a study.
A review of 36 previously published studies on stress and weight gain led by Jane Wardle, of University College London, found that the majority showed no association between people's stress levels and their weight gain over several years.
When the study appeared in "Obesity," - the official journal of the Obesity Society - combined the results of the research, there was only a modest association between stress and weight gain.
"We assumed that there would be a substantial association between stress and obesity, since the popular view is that stress contributes to weight gain," said Andrew Steptoe, who also took part in the study, in an e-mail to Reuters Health.
"When we looked carefully at scientific studies, effects were surprisingly small."
The reviews analyzed studies conducted mainly in the 1990s and 2000s.
All assessed participants' stress levels, then followed the subjects over time to see whether there was a relationship between stress and subsequent weight gain.
Most followed participants for one to seven years, but a few were longer term -projects that followed people for up to 38 years. Some focused on work stress, while others covered general life stress - such as divorce or bereavement.
Overall, 69 percent of the studies found no clear association between stress levels and weight gain, while 25 percent linked higher stress levels to greater weight gain.
The last six percent found that greater stress was related to less weight gain over time.
Once all the results were pooled, there was a modest association between higher stress levels and greater weight gain - a connection stronger among men than among women.
Steptoe warned that while the impact of stress on weight may be small on average, there was still the possibility of wide individual variations.
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