Abstract
We analyze the dynamic changes in individuals’ lifestyle during the COVID-19 outbreak and recovery period through a survey of 1061 Chinese households. Specifically, we are interested in individuals’ bodyweight, time allocation and food choices. We find that COVID-19 is associated with weight gain, less time spent on exercise and more time on entertainment. The proportion of online food purchase and snack purchases also shows an upward trend. This study provides useful implications on the impact of COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns on individuals’ lifestyle and offers foresights for countries in different stages of the pandemic. It explains how encouraging exercise, managing new food purchase venues, and reducing the intake of unhealthy food such as snacks may also need to be considered in dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19.
Highlights
From the perspective of different provinces and cities, only Chongqing showed a trend inconsistent with the sample mean in terms of bodyweight and the proportion of online food purchase
We find that COVID-19 has likely changed individuals’ lifestyle at least in terms of their physical health, time allocation and food choices
Our research indicates that COVID-19 as well as lockdowns and self-quarantine triggered by it may lead to weight gain, less exercise time, more entertainment time, and greater online food purchase and snack purchase
Summary
The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the world’s economic growth, trade, food supply, as well as individuals’ lifestyle [2,3,4,5,6]. The high infectivity of the novel coronavirus is a potential health risk factor but can have psychosocial impact and affect individuals’ lifestyle [7,8]. Three aspects of change in individuals’ lifestyle are analyzed in this paper: physical health, time allocation, and food choices. We consider weight change as an important indicator to reflect the change of individuals’ physical health during different pandemic periods. During the pandemic, individuals are restricted from leaving their homes by the lockdown policy, which may affect individuals’
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