Weighing up the causes of obesity

	Tweet

Stress can make you fat – and being obese can create stress. A new hypothesis seeks to explain how.

Diet and lack of exercise are not sufficient to explain the worldwide rise in obesity. Stress is one of many other factors which could contribute, according to human biologist Brynjar Foss from the University of Stavanger.

Eating more food high in fat, salt and sugar, combined with reduced physical activity, has been highlighted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the key causes of obesity.

Doctors have therefore prescribed slimming and physical exercise. This is followed up by media and commercial industries which promote training, diet and lifestyle advice.

Cause or consequence?
Brynjar Foss and sports scientist Sindre M Dyrstad have focused attention on this issue with the article Stress in obesity: cause or consequence? published in Medical Hypotheses.

The researchers review a number of studies, which show that weight gain and cortisol (the stress hormone) levels are noticeably higher in people who became fatter because of stress.

“If you have high cortisol, you seem to put on weight more easily,” says Foss. He and Dyrstad suggest that stress and obesity reinforce each other through positive feedback.

A vicious circle of stress
Getting fatter can potentially trigger the stress response, which in turn encourages additional weight gain.

“When you go up in weight, your body also comes under stress. That probably has a self-reinforcing effect – so you get even fatter,” Foss explains.

But dieting can also stimulate cortisol production, which in turn may trigger the stress response and thereby counter the weight loss.

###

University of Stavanger

“Should our hypothesis turn out to be correct, it would mean that you’ll have to break this stress pattern if you want to halt the weight increase,” says Foss.

Text: Karen Anne Okstad

RELATED STORIES:
Wealthier Nations Have More Fast Food and More Obesity   Obesity not linked to breast cancer in Mexican-American women   Feast, famine and the genetics of obesity: You can’t have it both ways   Analysis: U.S. politicians may unite in obesity battle   $1 Million USDA Grant Aims to Reduce Obesity in Preschoolers   A new candidate pathway for treating visceral obesity   Florida orange juice industry worried by obesity campaign   Obesity epidemic is a smokescreen   Obese siblings of diabetic children at risk   Obesity timebomb: Eight in 10 men will be overweight by 2020   CDC says obesity costs US more than US$145b annually   Parents’ obesity, especially mom’s, tied to kids’ risk

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]