Body Mass, Physical Activity and Eating Habits Changes during the First COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Poland.

Dariusz Włodarek,Hubert Dobrowolski

doi:10.3390/ijerph18115682

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a number of changes in social life around the world. In response to the growing number of infections, some countries have introduced restrictions that may have resulted in the change of the lifestyle. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of the lockdown on body weight, physical activity and some eating habits of the society. The survey involving 183 people was conducted using a proprietary questionnaire. The mean age of the study participants was 33 ± 11 and mean height 169 ± 8 cm. An average increase in body weight was observed in 49.18% by 0.63 ± 3.7 kg which was the result of a decrease in physical activity and an increase in food consumption. We also observed a decrease in PAL from 1.64 ± 0.15 to 1.58 ± 0.13 and changes in the amount of food and individual groups of products consumption, including alcohol. Among the study participants who did not lose body mass, there was an average weight gain of 2.25 ± 2.5 kg. In conclusion, an increase of weight was shown in about half of the respondents in the study group which was associated with a decrease in physical activity and an increase in the consumption of total food and high energy density products.

Highlights

At the end of 2019, a new type of coronavirus (CoV) was detected in the Wuhan area of Hubei province in China which led to hospitalization of the first patients [1] causing the development of respiratory symptoms and its failure, similar to the previously discoveredCoV inducing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) [2]
In Poland, despite the initial small number of reported cases of COVID-19, a decision was made to introduce a lockdown from mid-March 2020, limiting the mobility of citizens to the necessary activities in everyday life, closing the vast majority of retail and service outlets, significantly reducing the number of people allowed to stay in one room, ordering the mouth and nose to be covered in public spaces, or prohibiting access to parks and forests
The above parameters show that before the start of the lockdown, Basal metabolic rate (BMR) and Total energy expenditure (TEE) were respectively 1539 ± 250 kcal and 2532 ± 461 kcal and, during the lockdown, were 1546 ± 253 kcal and 2442 ± 429 kcal which constituted an increase in BMR by 6.99 ± 40.4 kcal and a decrease in TEE by 89.6 ± 234 kcal

Summary

Introduction

At the end of 2019, a new type of coronavirus (CoV) was detected in the Wuhan area of Hubei province in China which led to hospitalization of the first patients [1] causing the development of respiratory symptoms and its failure, similar to the previously discoveredCoV inducing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) [2]. At the end of 2019, a new type of coronavirus (CoV) was detected in the Wuhan area of Hubei province in China which led to hospitalization of the first patients [1] causing the development of respiratory symptoms and its failure, similar to the previously discovered. Led to the development of a new disease (COVID-19) most often causing a fever, dry cough, breathing difficulties (dyspnea), headache and pneumonia, and may result in progressive respiratory failure due to the damage of alveoli, and even death [2,3]. Over the course of several months, SARS-CoV-2 has spread to most countries causing a global pandemic. In Europe, the first cases were diagnosed in Italy and Spain, where the virus wreaked the greatest havoc, causing about 130,000 infections and over 15,000 and 12,000 deaths, respectively, in just over a month [4]. In Poland, despite the initial small number of reported cases of COVID-19, a decision was made to introduce a lockdown from mid-March 2020, limiting the mobility of citizens to the necessary activities in everyday life (commuting to work, necessary grocery shopping), closing the vast majority of retail and service outlets, significantly reducing the number of people allowed to stay in one room (e.g., in shops or public transport), ordering the mouth and nose to be covered in public spaces, or prohibiting access to parks and forests

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Conclusion