Health behaviours during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: implications for obesity.

Public Health Nutrition, School of Global Public Health, New York University, 715-719 Broadway, Room 1220, New York, NY10012, USA.

Public health nutrition. 2020;(17):3121-3125

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Obesity is a risk factor for severe complications and death from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Public health efforts to control the pandemic may alter health behaviors related to weight gain, inflammation, and poor cardiometabolic health, exacerbating the prevalence of obesity, poor immune health, and chronic diseases. DESIGN We reviewed how the pandemic adversely influences many of these behaviors, specifically physical activity, sedentary behaviors, sleep, and dietary intakes, and provided individual level strategies that may be used to mitigate them. RESULTS At the community level and higher, public health and health care professionals need to advocate for intervention strategies and policy changes that address these behaviors, such as increasing nutrition assistance programs and creating designated areas for recreation and active transportation, to reduce disparities among vulnerable populations. CONCLUSIONS The long-lasting impact of the pandemic on health behaviors, and the possibility of a second COVID-19 wave, emphasize the need for creative and evolving, multi-level approaches to assist individuals in adapting their health behaviors to prevent both chronic and infectious diseases.

Methodological quality

Publication Type : Review

Metadata

MeSH terms : COVID-19 ; Obesity