Eating in the lockdown during the Covid 19 pandemic; self-reported changes in eating behaviour, and associations with BMI, eating style, coping and health anxiety

Abstract

The global coronavirus pandemic (Covid 19) resulted in national lockdowns where individuals were asked to isolate in their homes to stop the spread of the disease. Using a cross-sectional survey, the current paper aimed to examine self-reported changes in eating patterns and behaviour during the lockdown in the UK, and associations with BMI, demographic variables, eating styles, health anxiety, food insecurity and coping strategies. Participants ( N = 620) were recruited online through social media advertising. The results showed that there were self-reported changes to food consumption during the lockdown across the sample. Increases in consumption of HED (high energy density) snack foods during the lockdown was associated with sex, pre-lockdown eating behaviour (emotional eating and uncontrolled eating), and Covid-specific health anxiety. Increases in positive eating practices such as eating more home prepared foods, and fruits and vegetables, were associated with adaptive coping strategies. Higher emotional eating (EE) during the lockdown was associated with a higher BMI, higher pre-lockdown EE and maladaptive coping strategies. Maladaptive coping strategies moderated the relationship between BMI and EE during the lockdown. In particular a higher BMI was associated with higher EE during the lockdown if an individual also had higher maladaptive coping strategies. These findings suggest that changes to eating behaviour may be part of a wider style of maladaptive or adaptive coping, particularly in those with a history of EE or uncontrolled eating. Preparing individuals to adopt more adaptive coping strategies during lockdown situations may be crucial to improving health during subsequent the lockdown events.

Eating Motives and Other Factors Predicting Emotional Overeating during COVID-19 in a Sample of Polish Adults

“…Therefore, in the present study, only some of the variables were selected. In line with previous studies, it was assumed that significant predictors of emotional overeating would be [ 10 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]: (a) demographic predictors: female gender and body mass index; (b) visual- and attitude-related predictors: liking, pleasure, visual appeal; (c) body- and health-related predictors: need and hunger, health, weight control; (d) emotion-related predictors: affect regulation, COVID-19-related stress.…”

“…The COVID-19-related situation is the cause of, among other things, concerns for the health of oneself and those of loved ones, as well as worries about the unstable economic situation and this, in turn, leads to an increase in the level of daily stress [ 5 , 8 ]. Limited social contact and another introduced restrictions make it much more difficult to deal with emotions and stress through adaptive mechanisms (e.g., through direct contact and conversation with another person, through regular physical activity, through contact with nature) and this fosters the development and/or strengthening of maladaptive coping strategies, one of which is emotional overeating [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

“…Visual- and attitude-related eating motives are associated with a positive attitude towards eating which is based on the visual qualities of food and the act of liking and enjoying eating [ 24 ]. Research shows that the relationship between these predictors, BMI and emotional overeating will be positive [ 10 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 35 , 36 ]. The next group of eating motives—body- and health-related factors—is related to: a physiological need for energy, the state of hunger vs. satiety and the motivation to be healthy and maintain a balanced diet and a healthy weight [ 24 ].…”

“…The next group of eating motives—body- and health-related factors—is related to: a physiological need for energy, the state of hunger vs. satiety and the motivation to be healthy and maintain a balanced diet and a healthy weight [ 24 ]. In turn, these predictors will be connected by a negative relationship with emotional overeating [ 10 , 12 , 35 , 36 ]. With reference to the last group—emotion-related variables—as mentioned earlier, COVID-19 can significantly disrupt people’s emotional functioning, and may lead to the experience of severe stress and an increase in eating motivated by the desire to regulate one’s emotional state, which, as is well known from previous studies, can be a very important factor in intensifying emotional overeating [ 3 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 37 ].…”

The Impact of COVID-19 on Horticulture: Critical Issues and Opportunities Derived from an Unexpected Occurrence

“…The perception of having more hours available in the day led to a newfound pleasure in cooking; preparing food can also function as a creative activity to relieve stress [41]. A positive increase in those activities related to preparing and selecting healthy foods has been observed [41,42]. People started to look for products that could improve their immune system, characterized by a high concentration of nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.…”