Stress-related changes in body form – Results from the Whitehall II study

OBJECTIVE: Stress is associated with body mass gain in some people, but with body mass loss in others. When the stressor persists, some people adapt with their stress responses whereas others don't. Heart-rate-variability (HRV) reflects ‘autonomic variability’ and is related to stress responses to psychosocial challenges. We hypothesized that the combined effects of ‘stress exposure’ and ‘autonomic variability’ predict long-term changes in body form. METHODS: Data of 1369 men and 612 women from the Whitehall II cohort were analyzed. Body-mass-index, hip-to-height-ratio and waist-to-height-ratio were measured at three time points over a ten-year period. HRV and ‘psychological distress’ (General-Health-Questionnaire) were assessed. RESULTS: Men with high psychological distress were at risk of developing an increased waist-to-height-ratio (F=3.4,P=0.038). Men with high psychological distress and low HRV were prone to develop an increased body mass and hip-to-height-ratio (psychological distress: F=4.3,P=0.016; HRV: F=5.0,P=0.008). We found statistical trends that women displayed similar patterns of stress-related changes in body form (P=0.061;P=0.063). CONCLUSION: Assessing ‘psychological distress’ and ‘autonomic variability’ predicts changes in body form. Psychological distress was found associated with an increased risk of developing the ‘wide-waisted phenotype’, while psychological distress combined with low autonomic variability was associated with an increased risk of developing the ‘corpulent phenotype’.