Washington, April 4: A new study published in the 'American Journal Of Preventive Medicine' has found that more people weighed in as obese during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic than in the previous year.
The evidence came from a large, nationally representative survey, which indicated this trend and helped researchers in explaining behaviour changes that led to widespread weight gain in 2020.
"Previous studies present evidence that intra-pandemic changes in risky dietary and other health-related behaviours are likely to contribute to the rapid rise in body weight during this period," said lead investigator, Brandon J. Restrepo, PhD, US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Food Economics Division--Diet, Safety and Health Economics Branch, Washington DC, USA.
"Adults who reported weight gain also reported more frequent snacking and alcohol intake; increased eating in response to sight, smell and stress and decreased physical activity," he explained.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, adult obesity in the United States was high and rising.
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The BRFSS data were analysed using linear regression models that took into account age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income, marital status, number of children, survey year indicators, and state of residency indicators.
As per the analysis of over 3.5 million US adults (aged 20 or older) from the 2011-2020 BRFSS, obesity was 3 percent more prevalent during the year beginning March 2020, compared with 2019 to pre-pandemic 2020 period.
The research also discovered statistically significant changes among US adults in four obesity-related risk factors during the Covid-19 pandemic: exercise participation, sleep duration, alcohol consumption & cigarette smoking.
While exercise participation and sleep duration were higher by 4.4 % and 1.5 %, respectively, the number of days in which alcohol was consumed was 2.7 % up and cigarette smoking prevalence was decreased by 4%.
Overall increases in exercise and sleep were insufficient to offset the impact of other behaviours, resulting in an average 0.6% increase in BMI during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although quitting smoking is a positive step, it has been linked to weight gain.
"Our results, which are broadly consistent with what prior studies have found using smaller and less representative samples, contribute additional insights that can serve to inform policymakers about the state of the US adult obesity epidemic and obesity-related risk factors," said Dr Restrepo.
He further added that "Because obesity affects some adults more than others, it would be helpful to further explore the changes in the rates of adult obesity by demographic subgroup and socioeconomic status."
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-PTC News