scholarly journals Lifestyle Changes and Body Mass Index during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: An Italian Online-Survey

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1117
Author(s):  
Silvia Maffoni ◽  
Silvia Brazzo ◽  
Rachele De Giuseppe ◽  
Ginevra Biino ◽  
Ilaria Vietti ◽  
...  

Background. COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a period of contingency measures, including total or partial lockdowns all over the world leading to several changes in lifestyle/eating behaviours. This retrospective cohort study aimed at investigating Italian adult population lifestyle changes during COVID-19 pandemic “Phase 1” lockdown (8 March–4 May 2020) and discriminate between positive and negative changes and BMI (body mass index) variations (ΔBMI). Methods. A multiple-choice web-form survey was used to collect retrospective data regarding lifestyle/eating behaviours during “Phase 1” in the Italian adult population. According to changes in lifestyle/eating behaviours, the sample was divided into three classes of changes: “negative change”, “no change”, “positive change”. For each class, correlations with ΔBMI were investigated. Results. Data were collected from 1304 subjects (973F/331M). Mean ΔBMI differed significantly (p < 0.001) between classes, and was significantly related to water intake, alcohol consumption, physical activity, frequency of “craving or snacking between meals”, dessert/sweets consumption at lunch. Conclusions. During “Phase 1”, many people faced several negative changes in lifestyle/eating behaviours with potential negative impact on health. These findings highlight that pandemic exacerbates nutritional issues and most efforts need to be done to provide nutrition counselling and public health services to support general population needs.

Author(s):  
Lindsy Kass ◽  
Terun Desai ◽  
Keith Sullivan ◽  
Daniel Muniz ◽  
Amy Wells

This study aimed to determine the effect of the first English national COVID-19 lockdown on physical activity (PA), sitting time, eating behaviours and body mass in an adult cohort. This was further examined to determine whether conforming to recommended guidelines on PA and sedentary behaviour was improved. Based on an online survey (n = 818) incorporating the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF), self-reported body mass change showed that in 32.2% of participants body mass increased, with 39.1% reporting an increase in food intake. Never exercising at the gym or undertaking an exercise class (online or live), increased by 50.8% during lockdown, with 53.5% changing from exercising frequently to never exercising, suggesting a lack of engagement with online and home workouts. However, outdoor running and cycling >2 times/week increased by 38% during lockdown. Walking at least 30 min continuously on >2 occasions/week increased by 70% during lockdown with minimum 10-min walks on 7 days per week increasing by 23%. The lockdown had a negative impact on sitting time (>8 h a day), which increased by 43.6% on weekdays and 121% at weekends. Furthermore, sitting <4 h/day decreased during lockdown (46.5% and 25.6% for weekdays and weekends, respectively). Those citing tiredness or lack of time as a barrier to exercise reduced by 16% and 60%, respectively, from pre-lockdown to during lockdown. More of the sedentary group met the Public Health England PA recommendations, however most participants still did not meet the UK Government guidelines for PA. Improvements in health per additional minutes of physical activity will be proportionately greater in those previously doing <30 min/week, the area where most improvements were found although, conversely sitting time was greatly increased. This study may assist in informing whether future lifestyle changes could improve the health of the population.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
HK Barcın-Güzeldere ◽  
A Devrim-Lanpir

Abstract Objective: We investigated emotional eating behaviours and perceived stress during COVID-19 partial quarantine according to BMI levels in healthy adults. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: An online survey included demographic variables, eating attitude-related questions, Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ), and Perceived Stress Score-14 (PSS-14) was sent via online data collection platform. Self-reported weight, height and weight changes during the quarantine were also collected. Participants: A total of 506 people age between 20-65 years who were partially quarantined due to COVID-19 participated in this study. Results: Body mass index (BMI) was positively correlated with EEQ (r= 0,205, p=0,001). However, BMI was negatively linked with PSS-14 during COVID-19 (r= −0,125, p=0,001), indicating that participants with lower BMI had higher perceived stress during COVID-19. Participants gained weight during the lockdown situation (+1.20 ± 1.70 kg in men; +0.91 ± 1.40 kg in women). EEQ and PSS-14 scores of women found to be significantly higher than men (9.39 ± 5.37 in men vs. 11.17 ± 5.85 in women for EEQ; 24.67 ± 8.32 in men, vs. 27.99 ± 7.34 in women for PSS-14. Obese participants consumed sweetened and carbonated drinks two-fold more in those compared to other participants. Conclusion: These findings suggest that partial quarantine may be closely related to emotional eating and weight gain, and participants with higher BMI showed more emotional eating behaviours. Therefore, certain precautions should be considered beforehand in order not to cause long-term eating disorder problems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Di Giacomo ◽  
Jessica Ranieri ◽  
Fabiana Fiasca ◽  
Antonella Mattei

This study investigated the psychological wellbeing and body perception among young Italian people. Drinking, eating, and sexual behaviors have been examined in relation to body mass index (BMI) and psychological well-being by EPOCH framework. This was a cross-sectional observational study conducted on Italian adolescent and young adult population through an online survey. Qualitative and quantitative data on lifestyle, BMI classes, and psychological characteristics of wellness in youth were obtained from a sample of 1221 Italian participants using a self-report questionnaire on body perception and habits, a socio-demographics inventory, and the EPOCH measure. Findings suggest that being underweight or overweight is associated with various factors, including gender, self-control regarding food, perception of one’s body, and the happiness domain. EPOCH framework revealed the psychological wellness of girls and young women did not seem strongly affected by BMI, though Perseverance and Happiness seemed reduced with increasing BMI. The Engagement, Optimism, and Connectedness domains were not significantly affected by the BMI variable. On the contrary, Perseverance and Happiness seemed reduced with increasing BMI and were related to physical shape. Our study offers a new perspective: promoting the development of positive psychological characteristics since adolescence to boost quality of life by improving wellness, by EPOCH approach could be functional reinforcing specific psychological aspects in young generations regarding future wellness, improving the positive perception and management of their own health.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. e41525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janina Petkeviciene ◽  
Alina Smalinskiene ◽  
Dalia Ieva Luksiene ◽  
Kristina Jureniene ◽  
Vitalija Ramazauskiene ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement 2) ◽  
pp. 194s-194s ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Carey ◽  
R. Norman ◽  
D. Whiteman ◽  
A. Reid ◽  
R. Neale ◽  
...  

Background: High body mass index (BMI > 25 kg/m2) has been found to be associated with an increased risk of many cancers, including cancers of the colon and rectum, liver, and pancreas. Aim: This study aimed to estimate the future burden of cancer resulting from current levels of overweight and obesity in Australia. Methods: The future excess fraction method was used to estimate the future burden of cancer among the proportion of the Australian adult population who were overweight or obese in 2016. Calculations were conducted for 13 cancer types, including cancers of the colon, rectum, kidney, and liver. Results: The cohort of 18.7 million adult Australians in 2016 will develop ∼7.6 million cancers over their lifetime. Of these, ∼402,500 cancers (5.3%) will be attributable to current levels of overweight and obese. The majority of these will be postmenopausal breast cancers (n = 72,300), kidney cancers (n = 59,200), and colon cancers (n = 55,100). More than a quarter of future endometrial cancers (30.3%) and esophageal adenocarcinomas (35.8%) will be attributable to high body mass index. Conclusion: A significant proportion of future cancers will result from current levels of high body mass index. Our estimates are not directly comparable to past estimates of the burden from overweight and obesity because they describe different quantities - future cancers in currently exposed vs current cancers due to past exposures. The results of this study provide us with relevant up-to-date information about how many cancers in Australia could be prevented.


2012 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michala Vosátková ◽  
J. Čeřovská ◽  
H. Zamrazilová ◽  
P. Hoskovcová ◽  
M. Dvořáková ◽  
...  

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is around 25% in Europe but its occurrence grows in both genders with increasing age and weight. Lifestyle factors may contribute to the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between metabolic syndrome and eating habits as well as length of sleep and smoking. Participants (519 women and 286 men aged 18–65 years) were chosen by random selection and questioned about their eating habits, sleep length and smoking. This information was combined with anthropometric and clinical parameters of metabolic syndrome. The female group was divided into two subgroups depending on climacteric stage (before and after menopause). Metabolic syndrome prevalence does not differ between regions in neither female (29.9%) nor male (32.5%) group. Body mass index ≥25 was detected in 50.4% of all women and 65.7% of men; 23.5% of all women and 21.7% men had body mass index ≥30. In conclusion, metabolic syndrome prevalence was proved to depend on eating habits and family heredity. Positive correlation between the above mentioned factors demonstrated itself in the total sample but not in individual regions. Metabolic syndrome prevalence in Czech adults is comparable with neighbouring countries. No significant interregional differences in metabolic syndrome prevalence within the Czech Republic were detected. In conclusion, relationship between eating habits and metabolic syndrome was confirmed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (07) ◽  
pp. 556-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojing Ma ◽  
Chengyin Zhang ◽  
Hong Su ◽  
Xiaojie Gong ◽  
Xianglei Kong

AbstractWhile obesity is a recognized risk factor for chronic kidney disease, it remains unclear whether change in body mass index (ΔBMI ) is independently associated with decline in renal function (evaluated by the change in estimated glomerular filtration rate, ΔeGFR) over time. Accordingly, to help clarify this we conducted a retrospective study to measure the association of ΔBMI with decline in renal function in Chinese adult population. A total of 4007 adults (aged 45.3±13.7 years, 68.6% male) without chronic kidney disease at baseline were enrolled between 2008 and 2013. Logistic regression models were applied to explore the relationships between baseline BMI and ΔBMI, and rapid decline in renal function (defined as the lowest quartile of ΔeGFR ). During 5 years of follow-up, the ΔBMI and ΔeGFR were 0.47±1.6 (kg/m2) and –3.0±8.8 (ml/min/1.73 m2), respectively. After adjusted for potential confounders, ΔBMI (per 1 kg/m2 increase) was independently associated with the rapid decline in renal function [with a fully adjusted OR of 1.12 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.20). By contrast, the baseline BMI was not associated with rapid decline in renal function [OR=1.05 (95% CI, 0.98 to 1.13)]. The results were robust among 2948 hypertension-free and diabetes-free participants, the adjusted ORs of ΔBMI and baseline BMI were 1.14 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.23) and 1.0 (95% CI, 0.96 to 1.04) for rapid decline in renal function, respectively. The study revealed that increasing ΔBMI predicts rapid decline in renal function.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Sophie Plante ◽  
Simone Lemieux ◽  
Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier ◽  
S. John Weisnagel ◽  
Julie Robitaille ◽  
...  

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