Obesity and Stress

Abstract

Two highly overriding problems that the society is facing today are stress and obesity. This narrative review article explains the vicious cycle of how stress leads to obesity and vice versa. Stress and obesity are interconnected to each other through different lines of cognition, behavior, and physiology. Stress can interfere with cognitive processes like self-regulation. Stress can also influence behavior by indulging in overeating of foods that are high in calories, fat, and sugar. Stress also invigorates the generation of biochemical hormones and peptides, for example, leptin, ghrelin, and neuropeptide Y. This article also extracts the contribution of weight stigma and social stress in producing obesity in an obesogenic process. Recent Studies describe that psychological distress and elevated cortisol secretion promote abdominal fat, a feature of the metabolic syndrome, improvements in mindfulness, chronic stress, and cortisol awakening response (CAR) were associated with reductions in abdominal fat. Mindfulness intervention for stress suggests that mindfulness training improves eating patterns and the CAR, which may reduce abdominal fat over time. Obesity has a multifaceted etiology. In this review, several factors of stress are identified that affect the development of obesity. This review also provides valuable insight into the relationship between obesity and stress.

Medical students’ dietary habits: Motivations and barriers to reaching health goals

“…[ 17 ] The physiological and social causes for the effects of stress on the development of obesity were described in a literature review published in 2022, covering articles from 2000 to December 2020. [ 18 ] These data are in support of the conclusions from a 2023 systematic review of the associations between diet quality and mental health in university students, which hypothesized that efforts to enhance students’ stress management could improve their dietary habits and adherence to nutritional goals. [ 19 ]…”

Effects of Vibroacoustic Stimulation on Psychological, Physiological and Cognitive Stress

“…It should be emphasised that the positive effect VSM has on physiological stress is of great social benefit, as physiological stress is a driving force for depression [89][90][91] and a number of cardiovascular diseases from hypertension to heart attacks to insomnia and obesity [92][93][94][95][96]. These results provide further evidence in support of the utility for vibroacoustic VSM technology.…”

Obesidad y estrés en el trabajo: más allá del atracón

“…A manera de Conclusión, la vinculación de obesidad y estrés va más allá de las directrices propuestas por Kumar et al (2022), quienes proponen una relación de ida y vuelta, un círculo vicioso de cómo el estrés conduce a la obesidad y viceversa. E6l estrés y la obesidad están interconectados entre sí a través de diferentes líneas de cognición, comportamiento y fisiología.…”