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We have written frequently on the dangers of stress and importance of mental well-being as part of a well-run workplace wellness program (for example here, here, and here). Now researchers may have identified yet another reason to manage stress, according to MedPage Today: “Adults who experience chronic stress may be prone to obesity.”

The study took “measure of hair samples, [in which] higher concentrations of cortisol were associated with obesity status.”

Why measure cortisol?

As Psychology Today previously reported: “The stress hormone, cortisol, is public health enemy number one. Scientists have known for years that elevated cortisol levels: interfere with learning and memory, lower immune function and bone density, increase weight gain, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease… The list goes on and on.”

It continues: “Chronic stress and elevated cortisol levels also increase risk for depression, mental illness, and lower life expectancy.”

As the study, published in Obesity, states: “Chronic cortisol exposure is hypothesized to contribute to obesity. This study examined associations between hair cortisol concentrations, a novel indicator of long-term cortisol exposure, and adiposity in a large population-based sample.”

The results?

As the study concludes: “In cross-sectional analyses, hair cortisol concentrations were positively correlated with body weight, BMI, and waist circumference and were significantly elevated in participants with obesity and raised waist circumference. In retrospective longitudinal analyses, hair cortisol levels were also significantly associated with the persistence of obesity over 4 years. Results were robust to adjustment for a range of sociodemographic and health-related variables.”

It continues: “these results provide consistent evidence that long-term exposure to elevated levels of cortisol over several months is associated with higher levels of adiposity.” As Wikipedia reports: “The body adiposity index (BAI) is a method of measuring the amount of body fat in humans. The BAI is calculated without using body weight, unlike the body mass index (BMI). Instead, it uses the size of the hips compared to the person's height. Based on population studies, the BAI is approximately equal to the percentage of body fat for adult men and women of differing ethnicities.”