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Impact of covid-19 pandemic on weight and bmi among uk adults: A longitudinal analysis of data from the hebeco study

Dicken, SJ; Mitchell, JJ; Le Vay, JN; Beard, E; Kale, D; Herbec, A; Shahab, L; (2021) Impact of covid-19 pandemic on weight and bmi among uk adults: A longitudinal analysis of data from the hebeco study. Nutrients , 13 (9) , Article 2911. 10.3390/nu13092911. Green open access

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Abstract

COVID-19-related restrictions impacted weight and weight-related factors during the initial months of the pandemic. However, longitudinal analyses are scarce. An online, longitudinal study was conducted among self-selected UK adults (n = 1818), involving three surveys (May–June, August–September, November–December 2020), covering anthropometric, sociodemographic, COVID-19-related and behavioural measures. Data were analysed using generalised estimating equations. Self-reported average weight/body mass index (BMI) significantly increased between the May–June period and the August–September period (74.95 to 75.33 kg/26.22 kg/m2 to 26.36kg/m2, p < 0.001, respectively), and then significantly decreased to November–December (to 75.06 kg/26.27 kg/m2, p < 0.01), comparable to May–June levels (p = 0.274/0.204). However, there was great interin-dividual variation, 37.0%/26.7% increased (average 3.64 kg (95% confidence interval: 3.32, 3.97)/1.64 kg/m2 (1.49, 1.79)), and 34.5%/26.3% decreased (average 3.59 kg (3.34, 3.85)/1.53 kg/m2 (1.42, 1.63)) weight/BMI between May–June and November–December. Weight/BMI increase was significantly negatively associated with initial BMI, and positively associated with monthly high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) snacks intake and alcohol consumption, and for BMI only, older age. Associations were time-varying; lower initial BMI, higher HFSS snacks intake and high-risk alcohol consumption were associated with maintaining weight/BMI increases between August–September and Novem-ber–December. The average weight/BMI of UK adults fluctuated between May–June and Novem-ber–December 2020. However, the substantial interindividual variation in weight/BMI trajectories indicates long-term health impacts from the pandemic, associated with food and alcohol consump-tion.

Type: Article
Title: Impact of covid-19 pandemic on weight and bmi among uk adults: A longitudinal analysis of data from the hebeco study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/nu13092911
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13092911
Language: English
Additional information: : © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
Keywords: COVID-19; bodyweight; BMI; health behaviours; diet; weight management
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10133806
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