Being under stress, including worrying about paying bills in today’s economy, may make overweight and obese people gain more weight, although stressed-out normal-weight individuals don’t have this problem. While psychosocial stress may increase people’s risk of many health problems, from high blood pressure to cancer, less is known about how it might influence weight gain over time, Health News reported. To investigate this, researchers from America looked at data on 1,355 men and women aged between 25 and 74 years who were followed for nine years as part of the Midlife in the United States Study.
All had completed a telephone survey to assess their levels of psychosocial stress and identify psychiatric problems at the study’s outset. The study found that psychosocial stress was associated with greater weight gain among both men and women with higher baseline body mass indexes, a measure of the ratio between height and weight, if they experienced job-related demands, had difficulty paying bills, or had depression or generalized anxiety disorder.
