Stress Has Only a Small Impact on Weight-Gain

Most people believe stress leads to weight-gain, but results of a new study challenges that claim saying there is no association between stress and long-term weight-gain.

Common symptoms of chronic stress include headache, insomnia, depression, hypertension, anxiety, and irritability.

For the study, published in the journal Obesity, scientists examined data from 32 previous studies on stress and bodyweight, and found the majority of research revealed no association between people’s stress levels and their weight-gain several years later.

The studies considered were conducted between the 1990s and 2000s and assessed the participants stress levels in relationship to weight-gain.

Among the studies 69% found no clear association between stress levels and weight gain, 25% linked high stress levels to increased weight-gain, and 6% showed stress was related to less weight gain over time.

Pooling all the studies together revealed only a modest association between overall stress and weight-gain, but the researchers say the effect of stress on weight could vary among individuals, especially when considering different types of stress; such as stress from work or stress from a specific events in a person’s life.

Reducing stress can be achieved with healthy diet, exercise, getting sufficient sleep, stress management, and relaxation techniques, like hobbies.