Stress influences appetite and comfort food preferences in college women

Association between stress and dietary behaviors among university students: Mini-review

“…While there is widespread scientific acceptance of a relationship between psychological stress and eating behaviors the findings are inconsistent. Individuals have been found to respond to stress with either reduced (hypophagia) or increased food intake (hyperphagia) [6,8,9].…”

College cafeteria snack food purchases become less healthy with each passing week of the semester

“…One of many indicators of this might be what occurs as one is placed under increasing levels of stress, which might increase with the progression of the semester. The majority of research suggests that stress is associated with a hyperphagic response (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) and could contribute to weight gain (1,2) . In fact, Oaten and Cheng found that students who were taking academic examinations reported a decrease in healthy eating (eating more 'junk food') compared with students who did not have examinations (4) .…”

Association between Stress and Dietary Behaviours among Undergraduate Students in Kuwait Gender Differences

“…Further, a number of other studies also reported a higher consumption of 'unhealthy' eating among stressed females [13][14][15]. One study found that although 80% of their female study participants reported that they typically ate a healthy diet, that only 34% of these females ate healthy foods when stressed [13].…”

“…While there is widespread scientific acceptance of a relationship between psychological stress and eating behaviours [12], the findings are inconsistent. Individuals have been found to respond to stress with either reduced (hypophagia) or increased food intake (hyperphagia) [10,[13][14]. As well as the amount, the type of food eaten is affected by stress.…”