Thursday, February 17, 2011
Being angry makes you fat
Study shows hostile men put on more weight than their more laid-back peers
Are you an angry young man? Or even an angry older one for that matter? If you are, you might want to think about taking it easy then.
A new study suggests that hostile men may put on more weight over time than their less hostile, more laid-back peers.
Researchers studied data on 6,484 men and women who participated in a British study of socio-economic status and health which stretched over 19 years.
The participants ranged in age from 35 to 55 years at the beginning of the study. They completed a standard test which measured hostility at the beginning of the study, while their body mass index (BMI) was determined at four points over the years.
The more hostile a man's personality, the more his BMI increased over the following two decades, Dr Hermann Nabi of Hopital Paul Brousse in Villejuif, France, and his colleagues found.
BMI is the ratio of height to weight, used to determine if someone is within a normal weight range or is underweight, overweight or obese.
Less likely to follow health guidelines
At the beginning of the study, the researchers found that both the men and women with higher hostility levels also had higher BMIs. Their BMIs rose over time.
While the relationship between BMI and hostility remained constant for women, hostility seemed to accelerate weight gain over time in men.
Hostility could affect BMI in many ways, Dr Nabi and his colleagues noted in a report of the study appearing in the American Journal of Epidemiology. For example, hostile people may be less likely to follow health guidelines on diet and exercise, or be more likely to be depressed.
Prior studies have linked hostility to heart disease, high blood pressure and a greater overall mortality risk, the researchers also noted.
Reuters
Labels: angry, bmi, fat, obese, overweight, underweight
