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Relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating. A cross sectional study
The study investigates the relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating among Ecuadorian adults amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, validated questionnaires were administered to 2333 participants between January and March 2021, with a median age of 25 years (interquartile range 21–37 years). Findings revealed that females exhibited higher levels of perceived stress compared to males (77.91% vs. 22.09%). Notably, approximately 64% of individuals experiencing perceived stress were identified as emotional eaters. A statistically significant correlation was established between emotional eating scores and perceived stress (p < 0.001), indicating an increase of 0.44 points in emotional eating scores for each additional stress point reported. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrated that for each unit increase in Body Mass Index (BMI), the emotional eating score rose by 0.26 units (p < 0.001), while a unit increase in age corresponded to a decrease of 0.27 units in emotional eating scores (p = 0.03). The study concludes that elevated stress levels are significantly associated with emotional eating, which could lead to long-term dietary issues stemming from responses to emotional rather than physiological hunger. The authors recommend incorporating considerations of stress and emotional eating into nutritional care practices. [NPID: stress, emotional eating, COVID-19]
Year: 2022
