Cited by 35Regulation of Appetite and ObesityEating Disorders and BehaviorsAdipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases

Biological underpinnings from psychosocial stress towards appetite and obesity during youth: research implications towards metagenomics, epigenomics and metabolomics

Michels, Nathalie·2019·Nutrition Research Reviews

Abstract

Psychosocial stress, uncontrolled eating and obesity are three interrelated epidemiological phenomena already present during youth. This broad narrative conceptual review summarises main biological underpinnings of the stress–diet–obesity pathway and how new techniques can further knowledge. Cortisol seems the main biological factor from stress towards central adiposity; and diet, physical activity and sleep are the main behavioural pathways. Within stress–diet, the concepts of comfort food and emotional eating are highlighted, as cortisol affects reward pathways and appetite brain centres with a role for insulin, leptin, neuropeptide Y (NPY), endocannabinoids, orexin and gastrointestinal hormones. More recently researched biological underpinnings are microbiota, epigenetic modifications and metabolites. First, the gut microbiota reaches the stress-regulating and appetite-regulating brain centres via the gut–brain axis. Second, epigenetic analyses are recommended as diet, obesity, stress and gut microbiota can change gene expression which then affects appetite, energy homeostasis and stress reactivity. Finally, metabolomics would be a good technique to disentangle stress–diet–obesity interactions as multiple biological pathways are involved. Saliva might be an ideal biological matrix as it allows metagenomic (oral microbiota), epigenomic and metabolomic analyses. In conclusion, stress and diet/obesity research should be combined in interdisciplinary collaborations with implementation of several -omics analyses.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0954422419000143

Cites

139 of 139 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Michels, N.
Affiliations
Ghent University (BE)
Corresponding author
Michels, Nathalie
Venue
Nutrition Research Reviews
Published
2019-07-12
Volume
32
Issue
2
Pages
282-293
ISSN
  • 0954-4224 (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-2700
OpenAlex
W2957696109
Cited by
35
References
139
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7
FWCI
0.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Nutrition Research Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
Keywords
psychosocial stress, appetite, obesity, youth, cortisol, abdominal obesity, comfort food, emotional eating, gut microbiota, gut-brain axis, epigenetics, metabolomics, saliva, oral microbiota, neuropeptide Y, endocannabinoids, orexin, leptin, insulin, energy homeostasis, stress reactivity, physical activity, sleep
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adolescent, Appetite, Behavior, Child, Child, Preschool, Diet, Eating, Feeding Behavior, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Stress, Psychological, Exercise, Metabolomics, Metagenomics, Epigenomics, Pediatric Obesity

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review