The association found in the rural population was opposite to what has been observed in some studies on the relationship between stress and obesity, which has justified the weight gain, due to the increase in intake of palatable and high caloric foods, as a compensatory mechanism resulting in hypercortisolemia of chronic HPA axis activation[7,8,21,50]; or weight gain due to the deregulation of satiety mechanisms, through alterations in the leptin system, and also resulting from high levels of cortisol.[7,12]. Here, LEP is linked to adrenal gland hyperfunction.