BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION AND JOB STRESS IN MEXICAN-AMERICAN MEN OF THE HISPANIC HEALTH AND NUTRITION EXAMINATION SURVEY

A positive relationship between psychosocial stress and central body fat distribution has been hypothesized. To test this hypothesis, two indices derived from principal components analysis of four skinfold measurements were studied in relation to imputed job stress characteristics (decision latitude, skill discretion, decision authority, and psychological demands) in Mexican-American men of the U.S. Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES). The two indices were fatness and central body fat distribution. Fatness was not significantly associated with any of the job stress characteristics before controlling for education. Once education was included in the equations, however, the relationship between fatness and two of the four job stress variables (decision authority and psychological demands) became statistically significant. Thus, for a given level of education, increasing job stress was associated with increasing fatness. Three of the four job stress characteristics were significantly associated with central body fat distribution before controlling for education. However, after education was entered into the regression equations as a proxy for social class, the relationships between central body fat distribution and the job stress variables were no longer significant. It thus appears that aspects of social class other than job stress are of equal or greater importance in predicting body fat distribution.