Relación entre estado nutricional, consumo de alimentos no nutritivos y percepción de estrés en mujeres perimenopáusicas

Abstract

Perimenopause is a critical period that can affect body weight, food intake and mood. Our objective was to describe the relationship between nutritional status, nonnutritive food consumption and perception of psychological stress in adult women (40-65 years old) from Vedia, Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina). A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out using a non-probabilistic sample. Women were classified according to the biological stage in pre-and postmenopausal and anxiolytic consumption was controlled. Nutritional status was measured by body mass index (BMI) and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) by waist circumference (WC). The perception of stress (PS) was assessed using the PSS-10 scale. Consumption of non-nutritive foods, sugary drinks and high-fat foods was estimated. Ninety-one women were included with a mean age of 52,1 years (SD= 7,7) (40% premenopausal; 60% postmenopause); 62,6% were overweight or obese” and 70,3% had CMR according to WC. The mean of PS for the sample was 15 points (SD= 6,0), which was higher in postmenopausal women (p= 0,03) and in those who consumed anxiolytics (p<0,001). PS was not associated with BMI (p= 0,83) nor with adipose distribution (p= 0,95). The consumption of non-nutritive foods was similar among women in both biological stages, except the consumption of chocolate that was higher in the postmenopausal (p= 0,03). Thus, the climacteric and menopause should be addressed by an interdisciplinary team, trained from a biopsychosocial perspective and not only from a clinical perspective.