Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
J Adolesc Health. 2021 Feb;68(2):277-283. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.11.011. Epub 2020 Dec 5.
Life disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are particularly salient for young adults. Some young adults may engage in unhealthy eating practices to cope with social distancing and isolation during the pandemic, which could increase incidental weight gain. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of eating to cope with the pandemic with body weight change in young adults before versus after spread of COVID-19.
Data included the baseline (October/2018-October/2019) and follow-up (May/2020-July/2020) assessments from an ongoing longitudinal cohort recruited from Southern California. A diverse sample of participants (54% Hispanic; age = 19.72[.47] years; N = 1,820) completed online self-report measures of weight at baseline and follow-up and were given a checklist of pandemic coping behaviors including overeating (yes/no) and eating high fat or sugary foods (yes/no) to cope with social distancing and isolation during the pandemic.
With and without adjusting for confounders, young adults who did versus did not report overeating to cope with the pandemic gained more weight from baseline to follow-up (5.55 vs. 2.54 lbs). Unhealthy food intake to cope with the pandemic was not associated with weight change. Baseline weight moderated the association of eating coping practices with weight change such that individuals with higher baseline weight gained more weight if they engaged in eating to cope behaviors versus not (p's≤.001).
Unhealthy eating behavior to cope with the pandemic and corresponding body weight increases may be occurring in young adults. Interventions to promote healthy eating practices in young adults warrant consideration for weight gain prevention during the pandemic.
新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行给年轻人带来了生活上的诸多不便。一些年轻人可能会在大流行期间通过不健康的饮食方式来应对社交隔离，这可能会导致意外体重增加。本研究旨在探讨年轻人在 COVID-19 大流行前后，通过饮食应对大流行与体重变化之间的关系。
数据来自南加州一项正在进行的纵向队列研究，包括基线（2018 年 10 月至 2019 年 10 月）和随访（2020 年 5 月至 2020 年 7 月）评估。研究对象为来自不同背景的（54%为西班牙裔；年龄 19.72[0.47]岁；N=1820）参与者，他们通过在线自我报告方式完成了基线和随访时的体重测量，并完成了一份大流行应对行为清单，包括通过暴饮暴食（是/否）和吃高脂肪或高糖食物（是/否）来应对社交隔离。
在调整和不调整混杂因素的情况下，与没有报告通过暴饮暴食来应对大流行的年轻人相比，报告有此行为的年轻人从基线到随访时体重增加更多（5.55 磅比 2.54 磅）。通过不健康饮食来应对大流行与体重变化无关。基线体重调节了饮食应对行为与体重变化之间的关系，即与不采取饮食应对行为相比，如果参与者采取了这种行为，其基线体重越高，体重增加越多（p 值均≤.001）。
年轻人可能正在通过不健康的饮食行为来应对大流行，且相应的体重增加可能正在发生。在大流行期间，有必要考虑针对年轻人开展促进健康饮食行为的干预措施，以预防体重增加。
