Abstract
The COVID-19 lockdown clearly affected the lifestyle of the population and entailed changes in their daily habits, which involved potential health consequences, especially on patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to examine the impact of the lockdown caused by COVID-19 pandemic on both nutrition and exercise habits, as well as the psychological effects in patients with T2DM, compared to their usual diet and physical activity level previous to the complete home confinement. We also intended to analyse any potential variables that may have influenced these lifestyle modifications. A Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Food Craving Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S) and Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T) were used. Our results showed an increase in vegetable, sugary food and snack consumption. An association between levels of foods cravings and snack consumption was also found. Data also showed a high percentage of physical inactivity before the COVID-19 lockdown, which was exacerbated during the home confinement. These findings emphasise the great importance to do further research with larger study samples to analyse and explore dietary habits and to develop public health policies to promote a healthy lifestyle in terms of diet and physical activity in these patients, especially after this strict period of lockdown.
Highlights
A new form of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged, alerting the medical and scientific communities on December 2019 [1]
We aimed to examine the impact of the lockdown caused by COVID-19 pandemic on both nutrition and exercise habits, as well as the psychological effects in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
Our findings provide the first description of how the COVID-19 lockdown has modified dietary patterns and physical activity habits in patients from Spain with T2DM, as well as its relationship with food cravings during this period
Summary
A new form of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged, alerting the medical and scientific communities on December 2019 [1]. The current global pandemic has led to a great number of infections and more than 570.288 deaths according to the official statistics worldwide [2]. One of the measures that have been adopted by the governments from different countries worldwide, especially those more affected by the pandemic, was full lockdown of the cities. This situation has led to a disruption of the daily activities of the population [3]. In order to contain the spread of the virus and to avoid the health system to collapse, the Spanish government released on the 14th of March an executive order to implement a state of alarm, when strict lockdown measures such as social distancing and complete confinement at home were first imposed [4]
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