How to Say "Stress Eating" in Spanish

comer por estrés

/komeɾ poɾ estɾes/from spelling rules

The English phrase stress eating is translated into Spanish as comer por estrés.

If you want to specifically refer to the act of binge eating due to stress, you can use atracones por estrés.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase comer por estrés literally translates to to eat because of/due to stress.

Is it said differently in some regions?

In Spain, the expression Comer de forma compulsiva por estrés is used. In Mexico, you can say Picar para desestresarse, while in various Latin American countries, the expression Picar por ansiedad is used.

How does it change in a sentence?

While English uses the gerund eating to form the noun phrase, Spanish uses the infinitive comer to express the concept of the activity.

How do you pronounce it?

/komeɾ poɾ estɾes/

Did you know?

The word estrés shares an ancient Indo-European root with the English word 'strain', through the concept of being stretched or pulled tight.
In many Latin American countries, the word picar is used to describe the act of eating small amounts of food between meals, regardless of the emotional cause.

Examples in context

Comer por estrés es una respuesta común a situaciones difíciles.
Stress eating is a common response to difficult situations.
La alimentación emocional puede ser una respuesta al estrés.
Emotional eating can be a response to stress.
La ingesta compulsiva puede deberse a factores estresantes.
Compulsive eating may be due to stressful factors.
A veces, como por ansiedad cuando estoy estresado.
Sometimes, I eat out of anxiety when I am stressed.
Me gusta zampar para relajarme cuando tengo mucho estrés.
I like to eat to relax when I have a lot of stress.
He dejado de comer por estrés.
I have stopped stress eating.
El comer por estrés es un problema común.
Stress eating is a common problem.

Example conversation

Two friends are talking about their habits during finals week.

María

Mateo, ¿por qué tienes tantos dulces?
Mateo, why do you have so many candies?
Mateo

Estoy volviendo a comer por estrés, María.
I'm stress eating again, María.
María

Deberías salir a caminar un poco.
You should go for a short walk.
Mateo

Tienes razón, necesito un descanso.
You're right, I need a break.

Sources

IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries comer, estrés, por, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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How to Say “Stress Eating” in Spanish