Graduate Institute of Metabolism and Obesity Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
Nutrition Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
Nutrients. 2020 Jun 30;12(7):1951. doi: 10.3390/nu12071951.
Perceived stress is the degree of stress experienced by an individual in the face of a stressor. Studies have shown that stress affects emotions, leads to behavioral changes, and is likely to trigger physical illnesses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), stress is classified as a health epidemic of the 21st century; in the meantime, the percentage of adults being overweight and with obesity has continued to grow after reaching 38.9% in 2016. Hence, it is unclear whether perceived stress has become a factor affecting progressive obesity and whether food addiction (FA) is an intermediate factor. The purposes of this study were to (1) investigate the FA prevalence among young adults in Taiwan, (2) understand correlations among perceived stress, FA, and the body mass index (BMI), and (3) determine the potential mediating effect of FA due to perceived stress on BMI. The study was conducted through an online questionnaire, composed of a basic data form, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS). We received 1994 responses and analyzed 1780 valid samples. Results showed that 231 participants met the FA criteria, accounting for 12.98%. Perceived stress was positively correlated with BMI (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.0130.088, -value 7.8 × 10), and perceived stress was positively associated to FA (95% CI 1.0991.154, -value < 10), which was also positively correlated with BMI (95% CI 0.7052.176, -value 10). FA significantly mediated the relationship between PSS and BMI with an indirect effect size of 25.18% and 25.48% in the group that scored 3140 on the PSS. The study concluded that among people seeking weight loss, proper stress management and screening for FA in order to apply related therapies may be an effective method for weight management.
压力知觉是个体面对压力源时所经历的压力程度。研究表明，压力会影响情绪，导致行为改变，并可能引发身体疾病。根据世界卫生组织（WHO）的说法，压力被归类为 21 世纪的一种健康流行病；与此同时，成年人超重和肥胖的比例在 2016 年达到 38.9%之后继续增长。因此，尚不清楚压力知觉是否已成为影响肥胖进展的一个因素，以及食物成瘾（FA）是否是一个中间因素。本研究的目的是：（1）调查台湾青年人群中 FA 的流行情况；（2）了解压力知觉、FA 与体重指数（BMI）之间的相关性；（3）确定由于压力知觉对 BMI 的潜在 FA 中介作用。该研究通过在线问卷进行，问卷由基本数据表、压力知觉量表（PSS）和耶鲁食物成瘾量表（YFAS）组成。我们共收到 1994 份回复，分析了 1780 份有效样本。结果显示，231 名参与者符合 FA 标准，占 12.98%。压力知觉与 BMI 呈正相关（95%置信区间（CI）0.0130.088，-值 7.8×10），压力知觉与 FA 呈正相关（95% CI 1.0991.154，-值 < 10），FA 与 BMI 也呈正相关（95% CI 0.7052.176，-值 10）。在 PSS 得分 3140 的组中，FA 显著中介了 PSS 和 BMI 之间的关系，间接效应大小分别为 25.18%和 25.48%。该研究得出结论，在寻求减肥的人群中，适当的压力管理和 FA 筛查，以便应用相关治疗方法，可能是一种有效的体重管理方法。
