THE EFFECT OF STRESS ON EATING HABITS AND BODY COMPOSITION OF THE STUDENT POPULATION

Abstract

Obesity is emerging as a serious problem worldwide. One of the factors contributing to obesity is stress. It appears to be particularly important, as it leads to poor diet, lack of physical activity, lack of sleep. The transition from high school to a university can increase perceived stress levels, which affect eating behavior and metabolism. This change alone leads to a difference in eating habits compared to the general population, which tends to rely on meals that are quick and easy to access.There are two main components of the stress response: the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and the HPA axis. The goal of research was to assess the impact of stress on eating habits and body composition of the student population. The respondents were 50 students from the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences UNSA. The devices used for body composition measurements are BIA-ACC and PPG Stress Flow (BioTekna S.r.l., Marcon-Venice, Italy). Statistical analyses included student's T-test to determine differences between the observed parameters regarding the gender. The biggest differences with respect to gender can be observed in the parameters of the HPA axis index (p < 0,000), which is one of the indicators of stress proving higher stress among women (M = 3.8±0.4 vs. F= 2.4±0.7) and between BMI in men and women (p=0.2). Men had a higher BMI than women (M=24.4±3.2 vs. F=21.6±3.7) but both were in the normal weight category.