Nearly half of Americans gained weight in the first year of the pandemic

WEDNESDAY, January 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Have you watched your waistline expand during a block? You are not alone.

Nearly half of adults in the United States have gained weight in the first year of the pandemic, making the national obesity crisis even worse, a new study shows.

“Obesity was an epidemic before the pandemic, and little was known about changes in body weight over the past year for older Americans,” said lead researcher Jagdish Hubchandani, a professor of public health at New Mexico State University. “We wanted to assess changes in the weight of the US population and its determinants after the first year of the pandemic.

To do so, Khubchandani and colleagues surveyed more than 3,400 adults and found that 48% said they had gained weight in the first 12 months of the pandemic, from March 2020 to April 2021.

Those who report weight gain are more likely to be male, white or Spanish, married, aged 45 or over, have a full-time job, have less than a university degree and live in the south and western states or rural areas.

Researchers also found that people were more likely to gain weight if they were overweight before the pandemic (just over twice as likely), had children at home (1.39 times), had depression or anxiety (1). , 25 times) or checked body weight in the last six months (1.32 times).

The study was published in the January issue of the journal Diabetes and metabolic syndrome: clinical trials and reviews.

The finding that weight gain is more likely among certain groups that are already vulnerable to poorer health outcomes is worrying, Khubchandani said.

The pandemic could widen existing health disparities and increase the severity of chronic diseases for some groups, he explained.

“This is a perfect health storm,” Hubchandani said in a statement from the university. “The United States consists of an adult population where the majority suffers from a chronic illness, is overweight or obese, does not meet physical activity guidelines, or has unhealthy eating patterns with lower fruit and vegetable consumption.

A previous study by the State University of New Mexico found that the pandemic fueled stress-related unhealthy eating habits in Americans.

“Our study addresses many national trends showing high stress in some groups such as parents, key workers and those with limited incomes and lower education,” Hubchandani said. “Even before the pandemic, stress was a major factor in the unhealthy lifestyle of older Americans, and the problem continues to worsen for certain groups.

More information

The American Psychological Association has more information on the COVID-19 pandemic and weight gain.