Perceived stress and high fat intake: A study in a sample of undergraduate students

Abstract

ObjectivesDifferent studies have reported the association between perceived stress and unhealthy diet choices. We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between perceived stress and fat intake among undergraduate medical students.Methods/Principal findingsA cross-sectional study was performed including first-year medical students. The outcome of interest was the self-report of fat intake assessed using the Block Screening Questionnaire for Fat Intake (high vs. low intake), whereas the exposure was perceived stress (low/normal vs. high levels). The prevalence of high fat intake was estimated and the association of interest was determined using prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Models were created utilizing Poisson regression with robust standard errors.Data from 523 students were analyzed, 52.0% female, mean age 19.0 (SD 1.7) years. The prevalence of high fat intake was 42.4% (CI: 38.2%–46.7%). In multivariate model and compared with those with lowest levels of stress, those in the middle (PR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.20–2.12) and highest (PR = 1.92; 95%CI: 1.46–2.53) categories of perceived stress had greater prevalence of fat intake. Gender was an effect modifier of this association (p = 0.008).ConclusionsGreater levels of perceived stress were associated with higher fat intake, and this association was stronger among males. More than 40% of students reported having high fat consumption. Our results suggest the need to implement strategies that promote decreased fat intake.

Perceived stress and diet quality in women of reproductive age: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The outcomes of the 16 studies on food intake and frequency of consumption were very heterogeneous and thus it was not possible to perform a meta-analysis (Table 3). All studies that assessed fat intake found that perceived stress was significantly associated with increased fat consumption [1,36,46,49,53]. Only Hwang et al [52] reported a significant decrease in fat intake, along with decreased intake of energy, carbohydrates, protein, calcium, vitamin A, zinc, thiamine, riboflavin, and folate, as a result of high stress (p < 0.05).…”

“…All 16 studies that assessed food intake and frequency of consumption measured stress through self-reported Fig. 2 Association between stress and diet quality (five studies based on correlation coefficient "r" and converted β coefficients to "r") measures: 10 studies used the Perceived Stress Scale [1,15,34,37,[46][47][48][49][50]53] and the six remaining studies used different other scales (Table 2).…”

“…The rate of obesity has increased alarmingly in the past twenty years across all age groups, especially among young adults [ 1 ]. In women of reproductive age, obesity is associated with type-2-diabetes, hypertension, decreased fertility and delayed conception, high birthweight and congenital anomalies [ 2 – 4 ].…”

APAKAH PERILAKU DAN ASUPAN MAKAN BERLEBIH BERKAITAN DENGAN STRESS PADA MAHASISWA GIZI YANG MENYUSUN SKRIPSI?<br><i>[Whether There is A Correlation Between Behavior and Excess Food Intake with the Stress in Nutrition Student Who Preparing for the Undergraduate Thesis?]</br></i>

“…Berdasarkan wawancara EADES, individu yang mengalami emotional eating mengaku suka makan terus-menerus tanpa mempertimbangkan rasa kenyang dan kebutuhan gizi, subyek juga mengaku cenderung makan berlebih saat stress, makan saat merasa frustrasi, dan menggunakan makanan untuk mengatasi emosi (Tabel 2). Konsumsi makanan berlebih bukan karena merasa lapar saat sedang stress didasarkan bahwa makanan mampu memberikan rasa nyaman dan mengurangi perasaan tertekan dan terbebani akibat penyusunan tugas akhir atau stressor lainnya (El Ansari et al, 2014;Jair Vidal et al, 2018).…”

“…Hal ini dapat terjadi karena responden ini cenderung melakukan coping yang mengarah pada konsumsi makanan lebih banyak dari biasanya dan lebih suka mengonsumsi makanan berlemak (digoreng dan bersantan). Konsumsi makanan tinggi energi dan lemak dinilai merupakan sebuah bentuk coping untuk meredakan stress, walaupun tidak menyelesaikan permasalahan atau stressor secara langsung tetapi dapat menimbulkan rasa nyaman (El Ansari et al, 2014;Jair et al, 2018).…”