In the United States, adult obesity was already high and continued to rise prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many studies have reported small-scale and relatively similar online monitoring of adult weight gain in the US during the early part of the pandemic, this study used data from a recent study. A large-scale nationwide behavioral risk factor monitoring system (BRFSS) study of the adult population in the United States. It contains data on health effects, health-related risk behaviors, preventive services, and chronic medical conditions.
The analysis of the BRFSS data used a linear regression model controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, household income, marital status, number of children, survey year index. and residency status index to assess the overall variability of adult obesity and four types of obesity-associated risk factors during COVID-19 infection.
According to an analysis of more than 3.5 million US adults (age 20 and older) from BRFSS 2011 to 2020, obesity in early March 2020 was 3% higher than between 2019 and pre-pandemic 2020. This study also showed statistically significant changes in US adults in four obesity-related risk factors during infection: exercise participation, sleep duration, alcohol consumption and smoke.
Exercise participation and sleep duration were 4.4% and 1.5% higher, respectively, while alcohol consumption was 2.7% higher and tobacco smoking exposure 4% lower. The overall increase in exercise and sleep was not enough to offset the impact of other behaviors, leading to an average increase in body mass index of 0.6% in COVID-19 cases. Although quitting smoking is a healthy activity, it is known to cause weight gain.
“Our results, which are in full agreement with what previous studies have found using smaller and less representative samples, contribute additional insights that can serve to inform for policymakers on the US adult obesity epidemic and obesity-related risk factors,“Dr. Restrepo noted, adding,”Because obesity affects some adults more than others, it would be helpful to further explore changes in adult obesity rates by demographic subgroup and socioeconomic status. festival.“
Source: Medindia
