The association between adverse life events and body weight change: results of a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Stress has been shown to be a determinant of weight change and risk for obesity. To date, there is scarce evidence that stressful life events and their severity contribute to changes in body weight. We studied the association between the occurrence, impact of and adaptation to adverse life events and weight change and the role of initial weight status. METHODS: Analyses were based on data from a population-based cohort of 2789 adults. Adverse life events, their impact and adaptation were measured retrospectively after baseline and follow-up weight and height measurements. RESULTS: Over six years, participants gained an average of 2.8 kg. There were no differences in weight change between those who had experienced an adverse life event versus those who had not. However, the impact of life events had a significant interaction with initial weight status. Adults with a healthy weight showed an average weight reduction of 0.2 kg (95% CIs: -0.7 - 0.2), and overweight adults showed an average weight gain of 0.4 kg (95% CIs: -0.3 - 1.1) for each point increase in impact after experiencing an adverse life event. Further, a slower adaptation to events was significantly associated with greater weight loss among those who lost weight. CONCLUSIONS: We found no proof for an association between life events and weight change in the entire study sample, but we found that adults at a healthy weight responded differently to adverse life events than those who were overweight.