Effects of acute stress on food intake in emotionally healthy university students

Abstract

Introduction and objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between acute stress and food intake using a sample of people without emotional disturbances. In order to manipulate the stress and evaluate the aforementioned relationship, an experimental scenario was designed, through a version modified of the Social Stress induction protocol, Trial Stress Social Test (TSST). Material and methods: The final sample included 82 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 years, who were randomly assigned into two groups. Participants attended two sessions. In the beginning, they answered questionnaires that gathered information about: stress to guarantee the equivalence of the groups before any exposure to the experiment. In the second session, for each activity associated with the TSST protocol, the perceived stress was evaluated. Also, the food intake was evaluated. For the analysis, six covariates were statistically controlled: age, sex, BMI, emotional eating, food restriction and food craving. In addition, food intake was evaluated with the category: quantity of unhealthy food. Results: Through logistic regression analysis, it was found that, under acute stress conditions, a healthy person might have a higher intake of unhealthy food. Conclusions: Theoretical and practical implications of the results contribute in developing future research in the field of study.