Stress and pounds
|
|
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ted Pestorius with HHS HealthBeat.
Don't let this stress you, but people with weight problems might find some kinds of stress can make their weight problems worse.
Jason Block of the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital checked stress and weight among more than 1,300 men and women over nine years.
Block found overweight men and women added more pounds if they reported having certain stresses. Both sexes gained weight under job and money stress. But women had other issues, notably family problems and a feeling of being hemmed in by life.
Block's advice for people who are overweight is to anticipate problems:
[Jason Block speaks] "Awareness of what could potentially happen to them during periods of stress is a way to potentially prevent weight gain."
The study in the American Journal of Epidemiology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ted Pestorius.
Last revised: October, 07 2009