Case Study Two
“A woman aged 45 works in the school canteen and suffers from stress levels. She has been diagnosed with IBS. She has two teenage children who do many different clubs in the evenings and she is the taxi. She herself is sporty and enjoys fitness classes twice a week”.

Working in the school canteen would increase her stress levels due to having to make sure all the food is cooked properly and in time for all the children at lunchtime. She may always be feared about children being ill after they have eaten the dinner which could lead to stress. Due to the stress levels this is what could have triggered the IBS. To treat the IBS she needs to find a way of managing stressful situations. Having two teenagers who do clubs and other things and need running around can also put pressure on the mum. Living a busy life would also trigger the stress levels. Stress and nutrition have always been linked. Someone who has a healthy and balanced diet is likely to be far less stressed than someone with a poor diet. The mum’s fitness classes could relieve the stress. By working in the school canteen, she may not be earning a lot of money, so their diet may be unhealthy due to the high prices of healthy foods. The junk food contains high levels of protein, fats and carbohydrates which can induce stress. Working within a food place, this could lead to her eating the food and putting on weight. If she is stressed she is going to just eat. People who are stressed love ‘comfort foods’ like