Students' eating behaviors are affected by stress in ways that are still a mystery to scientists.

Diane M. DellaValle, a registered dietician and graduate student in the nutritional sciences department, said, "the severity of stress is an important factor" in determining how the appetite is affected.

For low-level stress that people perceive as less severe, overeating is most common.

She said that people tend to "reach for salty, fatty, sweet foods" to feel better.

Eating more during stressful times may be a common impulse, but DellaValle called it "a poor way to cope with stress in the long term."

She said eating during stressful periods causes a person to lose satiety, or the ability to sense the body's satisfaction from a meal. She also said that women tend to eat more than men during stressful times -- but nobody is sure why.

"This is my breakfast," said Sueshauna Murray (senior-political science) while holding up a packaged brownie and a candy bar.

She said she is stressed because it is midway through the semester, but to battle stress she goes out to dinner with her friends.

She said eating with fellow students helps her leave stress behind. She and her friends eat out three times a week.

"No one's really gained weight from it," she said.

She also added that bonding with one another keeps their meals at a leisurely pace.

"People who have better social support show increased ability to cope with stress," DellaValle said -- supporting Murray's less-scientific finding that spending time with friends helps her handle stress.

For other students, time is a factor.

"What usually happens is I run out of time and I don't eat," said Ashley Graeff (sophomore-premedicine).

To cope with stress she said she tries to get things done so she can rest as soon as possible.

Associate professor of psychology Michelle G. Newman said there are more physiological reasons for not eating during stressful times than there are for overeating.

"Your body redirects its resources," she said. "Digestion slows, blood flow goes to the major muscle groups and the body reacts in a "fight or flight response."

Newman also commented on some theories about overeating.

"People have a positive association with food," she said.

People ignore, not lose, their ability to sense hunger once they connect food with comfort, she added.

To use this to one's advantage, she said, "You have to develop new associations. Make an association between stress and something else."

Patterns of eating while stressed might even lead to weight gain, Newman said.

College life in general can be conducive to poor eating habits, DellaValle said. She said she thinks stress may play a role in the phenomenon known as the "freshman 15," but it doesn't account for all 15 pounds. Other factors such as snacking while studying and lots of junk food and fast food make weight gain an issue for new students, she said.

DellaValle suggested some concrete ways to deal with stress. Exercise, sufficient sleep on a regular basis, and healthy snacks such as fruits and vegetables are healthier behaviors than overeating. She also said to "calm down before reacting by overeating."

Newman echoed this idea when she said that one method for coping with stress is to avoid getting "worked up."

"The severity of stress is entirely personal," Newman said.

Groups of people may all be under the same types and levels of stress, but not everyone reacts to the stress in the same way.

"There are some people who can endure like amounts of stress because they don't make themselves crazy," she said

Reacting to stress, she said, brings on more stress, and putting problems into perspective and identifying your weaknesses is key.

"If you can put your energy into solving those things, that can also be helpful," she said.