Research shows biological reason why women stress eat

There is a substantial body of literature showing women are more prone to emotionally-triggered eating such as binge eating, which affects around eight percent of Australians. However, until now, there has been limited information on the precise neural circuits driving this sex-specific behaviour.

In her Pursuit article ‘Why women are more likely to ‘stress eat’', Dr Brown discusses her research and findings that dispel the myth that societal pressures or psychosocial factors are the only contributing factors behind stress-related eating behaviour in humans.

“Most women who suffer from emotional eating don’t seek help or treatment. We now know it’s likely there’s a biological reason why women turn to food for comfort, so the perception that those who overeat are weak and have no self-control is fundamentally flawed. We hope this finding will encourage those suffering from disordered eating to seek help earlier,” Dr Brown said.

Read the full article via Pursuit, the University of Melbourne’s online news, analysis, research and insights channel.