Abstract
Social isolation has adverse effects on mental health, physical exercise, and dietary habits. This longitudinal observational study aimed to investigate the effects of mood states and exercise on nutritional choices, on 176 college students (92 males, 84 females; 23 ± 4 years old) during the COVID-19 lockdown. During 21 days, nutrition and exercise were daily monitored, and the mood states assessed. A factor analysis was used to reduce the number of nutritional variables collected. The relationships between exercise, mood and nutrition were investigated using a multivariate general linear model and a mediation model. Seven factors were found, reflecting different nutritional choices. Exercise was positively associated with fruit, vegetables and fish consumption (p = 0.004). Depression and quality of life were, directly and inversely, associated with cereals, legumes (p = 0.005; p = 0.004) and low-fat meat intake (p = 0.040; p = 0.004). Exercise mediated the effect of mood states on fruit, vegetables and fish consumption, respectively, accounting for 4.2% and 1.8% of the total variance. Poorer mood states possibly led to unhealthy dietary habits, which can themselves be linked to negative mood levels. Exercise led to healthier nutritional choices, and mediating the effects of mood states, it might represent a key measure in uncommon situations, such as home-confinement.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 epidemic, was first identified in Wuhan (China) in December 2019
This means that in people who exercise more, have a higher consumption of fresh fruit, vegetable and fish, and meats and milk-derivatives, the results suggest that physical exercise appears to mediate healthier dietary habits
A partial consequence of COVID-19 lockdown, possibly led to less healthy diets, which can themselves be linked to negative mood levels, such as anxiety and depression [53], in a vicious circle [30]
Summary
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 epidemic, was first identified in Wuhan (China) in December 2019. Several articles have been published regarding the effects of the home confinement and social-isolation period on different domains: psychological states [1,2], physical activity [3], nutrition [4,5] or the integration of these [6,7,8,9]. Mood disturbances, such as anxiety, depression, anger and irritability, have been previously reported in several studies during quarantine periods, as reviewed by Brooks et al [10].
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