Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> Background Academia is a profession characterized by high stress levels due to intense workload and performance expectations. It is well known that daily-life stress can affect health by altering individuals' eating behaviors. This study aims to examine the relationship between job stress and eating behaviors among academics and to determine the factors that affect emotional eating. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted with 200 academic staff (121 females, 79 males, and median age 33 years) working in universities in Istanbul between January and March 2024. Data were collected via an online survey containing a sociodemographic information form, the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ), and the university teaching staff’s job stress scale. Results It was determined that 37.5% of the participants were in the pre-obese or obese category. The median score of research assistants in the Factors creating stress in the work of university academic staff sub-dimension was found to be significantly higher than that of faculty members (p = 0.007). In the body mass index (BMI)-based comparison, the emotional/over-eating score of the overweight/obese group was significantly higher than that of the underweight/normal group, while the satiety responsiveness score was lower (p < 0.001). In the hierarchical regression analysis, job stress and demographic variables did not significantly explain emotional eating behavior in the initial models (p > 0.05). However, the significant improvement in the model's explanatory power began with the addition of BMI in Model 3 (ΔR² = 0.105; p < 0.001), while job stress itself was not a significant predictor in any model (p > 0.05). In the final model (Model 4), the addition of the number of meals further improved the model (ΔR² = 0.044; p = 0.002), and the model's total explanatory power reached 16.6% (R <sup>2</sup> = 0.166; p < 0.001). Conclusion The study findings indicate that emotional eating behavior in academics is more strongly associated with BMI and dietary habits rather than job stress. In line with these findings, planning healthy nutrition and weight management programs for academics is recommended. </p>