[Occupational stress, coping styles and eating habits among Polish employees]

The aim of the study was to analyze potential relations between occupational stress, coping styles and ing habits.

Questionnaires administered to 160 public administration employees allowed for assessing eating habits, occupational stress and coping styles.

The eating habits correlated with work stress (ro-Spearman's = 0.17-0.29). More unhealthy eating patterns were observed in employees characterized by a higher level of stress. Such stressors as overload, lack of control over work and inappropriate work organization were especially related to poorer eating habits. Among the analyzed coping styles, focusing on emotions (ro-S = 0.19) and searching for emotional support most significantly correlated with poorer eating behaviors (ro-S = 0.16). There were statistically significant differences in eating habits, depending on the level of job stress (U = 1583.50, p < 0.05). Employees with high job stress had a stronger tendency to habitual and emotional eating more than those with a medium level of job stress.

The relationship between subjective assessment of job stress, coping and eating habits has been confirmed. Taking into account the role of stress and coping, as the potential determinants of eating patterns in humans, more attention should be paid to education and promotion of knowledge about the relationship between stress and human eating behaviors to prevent obesity and eating disorders.