Introduction and Objective: Stressful and traumatic life events and chronic stress are associated with rising rates of obesity, yet research in this area is limited. In this analysis we examine the impact of stressful and traumatic events and chronic stress on food choices in an experimental Food Snack Test (FST) under acute stress-, neutral- and food- cue contexts.Methods: Community adults [n= 135; 51.1% female, mean age 24.7 ± 6.6 yrs, 27.4% with obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2), mean BMI 26.9 ± 4.7 (range 18.6-38.0)] were assessed on stressful and traumatic life events and chronic stress using the Cumulative Adversity Interview (CAI). Participants completed a 3-day laboratory experiment where they were exposed to stress-, neutral-, and food- cues, 1 per day, using brief 5-min individualized script-driven imagery, followed by the opportunity to consume pre-selected high- and low-calorie sweet, savory, and healthy snack foods ad libitum (FST). Linear mixed effects models were utilized to assess CAI total life events, life traumas and chronic stress, BMI, and FST responses in each cue context, controlled for gender.Results: Across BMI groups, greater total and chronic stress scores were associated with eating more sweet food calories in stress and neutral conditions compared to the food cue condition (p’s < 0.006). Greater recent life events and life trauma stress scores were associated with greater sweet food caloric intake in neutral and stress conditions relative to the food condition in participants with obesity only (p’s < 0.002).Conclusion: Cumulative stressful life events and chronic stress increases risk of greater sweet food intake in acute stress and non-stress neutral contexts, and particularly for individuals with obesity. These findings suggest the importance of considering and addressing the effect of stress and life trauma given their impact on increasing sweet food consumption, irrespective of BMI, and especially for individuals with obesity.
E.A. Doyle: None. N.M. Fogelman: None. K. Joseph: None. P. Hu: Research Support; Boehringer-Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Company. A.M. Jastreboff: Other Relationship; Amgen Inc, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Biohaven, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, IntelliHealth, Syntis Bio, Pfizer, Regeneron, Scholar Rock, Structure Therapeutics, Terns Pharma, WeightWatchers, Zealand Pharma. R. Sinha: Research Support; Tenacia Biotechnologies, AELIS FARMA. Board Member; Menda Health. Research Support; Connecticut Pharmaceuticals Research Solutions.
National Institutes of Health (R01-DK099039-05).
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