The COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns and Changes in Body Weight among Polish Women. A Cross-Sectional Online Survey PLifeCOVID-19 Study

Abstract

There is limited information on the relationships between restrictions linked to COVID-19 and changes in body weight. The aim of the study was to identify the body weight changes and their determinants in the nutritional and socio-demographic context during the COVID-19 pandemic in Polish women. During lockdown in Poland, 34% of women gained weight, while 18% of women reduced weight. As many as 44% of women with obesity before the pandemic increased their body weight, and 74% of women that were underweight reduced their body weight. In a group with weight gain, women increased their body weight by 2.8 kg on average and around 65% of them increased their total food intake. Unhealthy dietary changes and the negative lifestyle changes that comprised of an increase in screen time and a decrease in physical activity were found as key factors associated with weight gain. A higher risk of weight gain was associated with being obese before the pandemic or living in a macroeconomic region >50% of EU-28 GDP, while those younger in age and carrying out remote work had a higher chance of weight loss. Concluding, the specific conditions during lockdown worsened the nutritional status, which may increase the risk of complicatedness and mortality from COVID-19. It seems advisable to create dietary and lifestyle recommendations tailored to the individual needs of women who are underweight or have excessive body weight. More attention should be paid also to environmental impacts. Both, the reduction of excessive body weight and the maintenance of a normal weight should be based on the principle to eat and live sustainably and healthily.

Dietary Supplements during COVID-19 Outbreak. Results of Google Trends Analysis Supported by PLifeCOVID-19 Online Studies

“…Regarding dietary interventions, a healthy diet abundant in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, and concurrently restricted in salt, fat, and sugar is recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 10 ]. Nevertheless, previous results showed that during the pandemic, many people worsened their diet or/and gained weight [ 24 , 25 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. Unfortunately, knowledge about COVID-19 prevention is not fully satisfactory [ 31 , 52 , 62 ] and often derives from social-media or media [ 52 , 62 ].…”

“…Shortly, in the present study, we searched topics related to coronavirus, immune system, dietary supplements, nutrients, bioactive compounds, and foods related to dietary supplements and immune system. We chose those topics based on literature searches [ 11 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 22 , 23 ] and results obtained within the PLifeCOVID-19 Online Study which we conducted in April–May 2020 [ 24 , 25 ]. We searched those topics separately (non-adjusted data), as well as each topic in comparison to the topic “lutein” (adjusted data) which allowed to compare the popularity of all searched topics.…”

Systematic review of the effects of pandemic confinements on body weight and their determinants

“…We excluded 10 studies based on a quality assessment of the results, and 27 studies were excluded based on reasons presented in the PRISMA flow diagram (Figure 1). The range of observations covered dietary choices (14,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(33)(34)(35)(36)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47) , lifestyle changes in children (24,36,(48)(49)(50)(51) , physical activity levels (33)(34)(35)37,38,(38)(39)(40)(41)43,46,47,49,52,53,(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60) , psychosocial factors (22,23,<...>…”

“…The number of participants in the included studies ranged from 41 to 381,564. All studies included both male and female participants except one study (37) . The duration of confinement for the selected studies for this systematic review ranged between 1 and 24 weeks.…”

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 5, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.03.21252806 doi: medRxiv preprint This intake was associated with an enhanced appetite and after-dinner hunger (21,37,39,45) .…”