The traditional view that obesity is a simple condition characterised by greed or laziness is outdated and requires reappraisal. Evidence is accumulating to show that obesity is far more complex than was previously thought and is a combination of behavioural, genetic physiological and social factors that interact to modify the normal physiological response to energy use. Physiologically, obesity is characterised by insulin resistance, which prevents the normal utilisation of food to perform work, and instead sequesters the energy in adipose tissue. However, while this physiological abnormality is likely the primary driver of obesity, a number of contributory factors also play a role. Homeostatic disruption to normal hormonal regulation is known to be a factor in weight gain, and stress may therefore play a part in obesity. Recently, work related stress has been shown to cause emotional and metal disruption that may ultimately lead to overeating and weight gain.
For example, researchers1 have recently investigated the association between occupational burnout, eating behaviour and weight amongst 230 working women (mean age 48.8 years). At baseline, 33.5 % of subjects had a body mass index (BMI) <25, 33.5 % had a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 (overweight) and 33 % had a BMI >30 (obese). The subjects were enrolled on a randomised controlled trial that was investigating the effects of health changes on disease risk. The Eating behaviour of the subjects was assessed using a Three Factor Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and occupational burnout was assessed using the Bergen Burnout Indicator. The results showed that at baseline and at 12 months, women experiencing burnout had higher scores for emotional eating and uncontrolled eating, when compared to those not experiencing burnout. During the health changes intervention time period (12 months), this emotional eating and uncontrolled eating decreased in all women.
These results suggest that work related stress can increase the likelihood of changes to normal eating patterns. It should be made clear that the mean weights of the women did not increase during the study (in fact they decreased), suggesting that the short-term consequences of work related stress do not result in weight gain. However, these data were taken from a clinical intervention trial investigating changes to perceptions about health, and as such this intervention may have biased the results post-baseline. What is therefore more interesting in the baseline data that shows an association between work-related stress and disruption to eating. Interestingly, studies show that some individuals gain weight in reaction to stress, whereas other lose weight, with severe stress often causing severe weight loss. The fact that some subjects lost weight does not therefore preclude an effect of emotional eating on weight gain.
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