Does your social status affect your weight? If you're a monkey, it might.

Researchers at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, found that female rhesus monkeys that were lowest in status tended to choose high-calorie foods when offered them. Socially dominant females did not.

Dr. Mark Wilson, chief of the Division of Psychobiology, believes that low-status females may be using high-calorie foods to relieve stress. Their eating choices resulted in weight gain and the increased production of hormones such as cortisol. They also developed more belly fat, which is associated with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome in humans.

Labels: overeating, pressures, society