FALL 2020 • VOL 14 ISSUE 1
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The Weight of Quarantine: Impacts of COVID-19 Restrictions on Unhealthy Weight Gain and Obesity Writer: Jason Zhang • Editor: Sophia Xiao
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mpty shelves that once held Spam, canned soups, ramen, and of course, toilet paper were a common sight at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the span of a month, much of America went into self-quarantine/lockdown as people self-isolated at home and non-essential businesses closed. As this country along with the rest of the world shifted towards a sedentary life at home, the uncertainty about the length of lockdowns led many to purchase more non-perishable foods- foods that last longer due to high amounts of fat, salt, and sugar [7][10]. Thus, health experts warned individuals under lockdown to pay attention to diet and exercise in order to prevent unhealthy weight gain and obesity. These also happen to be risk factors for developing COVID-19 [9], the exact disease that lockdowns tried to tackle. Therefore, this begs the question of whether there is actual evidence that lockdowns have led to weight gain and/or obesity. To put it bluntly, did we get fatter and unhealthier during lockdown?
...the uncertainty about the length of lockdowns led many to purchase more non-perishable foods- foods that last longer due to high amounts of fat, salt, and sugar. Zachary Zeigler et al. attempted to answer this question by surveying one hundred seventy three adult Facebook users. The survey asked them to
To put it bluntly, did we get fatter and unhealthier during lockdown? describe their changes in weight and eating habits during lockdown, finding that although 59 percent of respondents described their weight as “relatively stable” during lockdown, a significant portion (22 percent) described gaining five to ten pounds [13]. Therefore, it appears that many individuals have experienced an actual increase in weight during lockdown. Additionally, the researchers noted that users who reported gaining five to ten pounds were more likely to report changed eating habits including increased “eating in response to sight and smell,” “eating in response to stress” and “snacking after dinner.” However, such responses were also common among all other respondents [13]. These changes in eating behavior point to increases in impulsive eating, providing a potential and logical explanation for the reported weight gain. Thus, Zeigler et al. supports the hypothesis that lockdowns due to COVID-19 truly have impacted our diet and health for the worse, with many American adults gaining weight and therefore, potentially becoming more at risk for developing obesity. However, Pamela Keel et al. caution against such interpretations, stating that studies like these tend to be retrospective and are therefore subject to inaccuracies arising from bias [6]. In a study analyzing undergraduate university students, they argue that in reality,
a significant difference exists between perceived and actual weight gain during lockdown. Although this study did ask the subjects to fill out surveys regarding their perceived weight gain, it differs from Zeigler et al. in that Keel et al. recorded Body Mass Index measurements (combinations of height and weight that the CDC uses to determine and classify obesity [2]) in January before campus closed and in April after it had closed in April. The purpose of recording BMI is that the CDC uses it to determine and classify obesity [2]. They found that among the 90 students who responded to both surveys, around 28 percent reported perceiving a weight increase in the later survey. Although a little more than a quarter of the stu-
...although 59 percent of respondents described their weight as “relatively stable” during lockdown, a significant portion (22 percent) described gaining five to ten pounds. dents reported unhealthy weight gain, they actually experienced no significant weight gain or BMI increase [6]. Thus, this suggests that most students who reported gaining weight did not actually gain unhealthy weight or even any weight for that matter. The large gap between actual and perceived unhealthy weight gain suggests that college students are overestimating the weight they gained during lockdown. An explanation for this could be that our culture is obsessed
