Use of Food to Cope With Culturally Relevant Stressful Life Events Is Associated With Body Mass Index in African American Women.
Cheryl L Woods-Giscombe, Marci Lobel, Catherine Zimmer and 8 others
PMID 34173375WHAT IT FOUND
In 189 African American women, self-reported race-related stress was associated with self-reported food coping, and food coping was associated with higher BMI.
This is an association, not proof of cause or treatment effect.
Key findings
01In the statistical model, race-related stress was the only stress type associated with using food to cope, and using food to cope was associated with higher BMI.
02Ninety-three percent reported using food in some way to cope with stress; the most common behaviors were eating out or ordering takeout because of time or energy (80%), getting together with friends to eat (77.2%), and eating when not hungry (76.2%).
03Average BMI was 29.6, and 75% of participants were overweight or obese.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The data were collected at one time, so the study cannot show that race-related stress causes food coping or higher BMI. Height, weight, and stress-related eating were self-reported, and the authors noted possible underreporting. The sample was mostly well-educated African American women with moderate income, and the data were collected in 2004, so results may not apply to all African American women. No intervention was tested, so the paper does not show what treatment changes BMI. BMI alone does not distinguish body fat from muscle or bone structure.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The supplied publication types list NIH and U.S. government research support, but the article text does not name a funder or its role.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as showing that race-related stress causes higher BMI or that reducing food coping will lower BMI. The study was cross-sectional, used self-reported height, weight, and eating behaviors, and tested no intervention.