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Cross-lagged associations between children's stress and adiposity: the Children's Body Composition and Stress study

Nathalie Michels1, Isabelle Sioen, Liesbet Boone

  • 1From the Department of Public Health (N.M., I.S., E.C., B.V., I.H., S.D.H.), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Department of Developmental Personality and Social Psychology (L.B.), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Dietary Exposure Assessment Group (I.H.), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France; and Department of Health Sciences (S.D.H.), Vesalius, University College Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.

Psychosomatic Medicine
|October 25, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Childhood stress impacts adiposity, particularly in those with high cortisol or sugar intake. Physical activity can mitigate this effect, offering new avenues for obesity prevention.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Public Health
  • Child Psychology

Background:

  • Stress and adiposity are significant public health concerns in children.
  • Previous research suggests an association, but longitudinal evidence for bidirectionality is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the bidirectional relationship between stress and adiposity in children.
  • To identify moderating factors, including cortisol levels and lifestyle, in this association.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 316 children (aged 5-12) over three waves.
  • Assessed stress via questionnaires and adiposity using BMI, waist-to-height ratio, and fat percentage.
  • Employed cross-lagged analyses and tested moderation by cortisol and lifestyle factors.

Main Results:

  • Adiposity predicted subsequent increases in stress, but not vice versa.
  • Cortisol and lifestyle factors moderated the stress-adiposity link.
  • High cortisol and sugar intake amplified the positive association between stress and adiposity; high physical activity attenuated it.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood stress contributes to adiposity development, influenced by cortisol and lifestyle.
  • Findings suggest novel, multifactorial approaches for childhood obesity prevention.
  • Highlights the impact of body composition on children's psychological well-being.
Abstract

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