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Insufficient capacity to cope with stressors decreases dietary quality in females
Previous research has examined the impact of stress on eating habits. This study by Huang et al. (2024) aimed to investigate how perceived stress influences dietary quality in Chinese adults, with a focus on gender differences. The study included participants from the China Health and Nutrition Survey who were between the ages of 18 and 59. The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10, score range 0-40) was used to quantify perceived stress. Dietary quality was measured with the Chinese Dietary Guidelines Index (CDGI), which ranges from 0 to 110. The study included 2,515 males and 3,165 females, with an average age of 45.9 ± 9.6 years. The average PSS-10 score was 14.6 ± 5.1, and the average CDGI score was 44.8 ± 11.6. After controlling for confounders, there was no significant effect of perceived stress, distress factors, or coping with stressors on dietary quality in males. In females, however, those in the highest tertile of perceived stress had a CDGI score 1.64 points lower than those in the lowest tertile. While distress factors did not affect CDGI, coping with stressors had a significant negative impact, with the highest tertile of coping stressors having a CDGI score 4.36 points lower than the lowest tertile. Perceived stress was not associated with dietary quality in males. In contrast, for females, greater perceived stress, particularly due to difficulties in coping with stress, was negatively correlated with dietary quality. [NPID: Perceived stress, dietary quality, distress, coping stressors capacity, structural equation modeling]
Year: 2024
