Highlights
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Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people’s lives in many ways. However, little is known about weight gain in American adults during the pandemic.
Objectives and methods
The purpose of this study was to conduct a national assessment of weight gain in American adults after the first year of the pandemic.
An online questionnaire was used to explore adults’ perceptions regarding weight gain during the pandemic and the relationship between weight gain and sociodemographic characteristics, pre-pandemic weight status, and psychological distress.
Multiple methods were used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the questionnaire (i.e., face validity testing, content validity, and internal consistency reliability).
Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyzes were used to evaluate group differences and predictors of weight gain in study participants.
Results
A total of 3,473 people participated in the study with weight changes distributed as: weight gain (48%), maintaining the same weight (34%) or weight loss (18%).
Those who reported being very overweight before the pandemic were more likely to gain weight (65%) versus those who reported being a little overweight (58%) or normal weight (40%) before the pandemic.
Weight gain was statistically significantly greater in those with anxiety (53%), depression (52%), or symptoms of both (52%).
The final multiple regression model found that statistically significant predictors of weight gain during the pandemic were psychological distress, pre-pandemic weight status, having children at home; and the time since the last body weight check.
Conclusions
Population health promotion strategies in the pandemic should emphasize stress reduction to help people manage body weight and avoid chronic diseases in the future.
Comments
Nearly half of U.S. adults report gaining weight during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online in the January issue of Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research .
Jagdish Khubchandani, MBBS, MPH, Ph.D., of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, and colleagues conducted a national assessment of weight gain in American adults after the first year of the pandemic. An online questionnaire (3,473 respondents) explored perceptions of pandemic weight gain and the relationship between weight gain and sociodemographic characteristics, pre-pandemic weight status, and psychological distress.
The researchers found that 48 percent of respondents reported gaining weight, 34 percent maintained the same weight, and 18 percent lost weight. Weight gain was more likely among those who reported being very overweight before the pandemic (65%) versus those who reported being a little overweight (58%) or normal weight (40%) before the pandemic.
Of those who gained weight, 11 percent reported gaining ≥10 pounds. There was significantly greater weight gain among those with anxiety (53 percent), depression (52 percent), or symptoms of both (52 percent).
Significant predictors of pandemic weight gain were psychological distress, pre-pandemic weight status, children in the household, and time since last body weight check.
"Population health promotion strategies in the pandemic should emphasize stress reduction to help people manage body weight and avoid chronic diseases in the future," the authors write.
Conclusions
The findings of this study suggest that psychological distress during the pandemic may have exacerbated problems associated with weight management in the US adult population.
Those who were overweight before the pandemic were also more likely to gain weight. Additionally, individuals who gained weight were those with symptoms of psychological distress, in full-time employment, or with children in the home, indicating multiple responsibilities that could lead to behavioral changes that have increased the risk of weight gain.
Finally, the study provides insight into the need for public health professionals to examine the indirect health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic beyond mitigating the effects of the virus.
Additional studies on predictors of unhealthy weight gain are warranted, especially in hard-to-reach settings (e.g., older adults) and marginalized groups. Population-based health promotion strategies during the pandemic should emphasize stress reduction and avoidance of unhealthy lifestyles to help people manage body weight and avoid excessive weight gain to prevent multiple chronic diseases in the population. future.
