BOSTON, July 8 (UPI) -- On-the-job stress, worrying about bills or strained relationships may contribute to people gaining weight, U.S. researchers suggest.
"Today's economy is stressing people out, and stress has been linked to a number of illnesses -- such as heart disease, high blood pressure and increased risk for cancer," Dr. Jason Block, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at Harvard University, said in a statement. "This study shows that stress is also linked to weight gain."
In addition to weight gain associated with financial problems or a difficult job, women also added pounds when grappling with strained family relationships and feeling limited by life's circumstances,
However, in men, the numbers on the scale did not go up when facing difficult family relationships or feeling constrained by life circumstances.
The study, published online ahead of print in next Wednesday's issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that among men, the lack of decision authority at work and lack of skill discretion was associated with greater weight gain. Skill discretion can be defined as the ability to learn new skills on the job and to perform interesting job duties.
Stress-induced weight gain is influenced by a person's gender, what types of foods people eat when they change their eating behaviors, and whether the person is already overweight or obese, Block says.
