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According to a new study, women who have experienced traumatic events are more likely to become obese. Researchers discovered that the more traumatic events women reported experiencing in the last five years, the more likely they were to become obese. Obesity can leads to elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and other serious health problems.
As much as 20 percent of people who experience trauma develop post traumatic stress disorder PTSD, but women are twice likely to suffer from the disorder as are their male counter parts. Stress from sources like bullying and economic strain has well-documented links to eating disorders, including over-eating and obesity. Since women are more prone to both extreme stress or PTSD and obesity, the study authors suggest that more attention needs to be paid to these relationships.
The researchers analysed data on both the women’s body mass indexes BMI and self-reported stress. The divided stressors into two categories: Significant traumatic events like physical violence or the death of a child that could have occurred any time in their lives and still be affecting them, and ‘negative life events’ that had occurred in the last five years.
Living through just one traumatic life event increased the risk of obesity by 11 percent, over that of women who reported no traumatic events. Those that had experienced four or more ‘negative life events’ were at a 36 percent greater risk of obesity.Women are living longer and are more at risk for chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity is related to increased risks of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer, and contributes to spiraling healthcare costs.
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