What effects have the confinements had on our weight?

Spring 2020. For the first time, the French have been restricted in their travel to fight against a then brand new pandemic, that of the Covid-19. Between the four walls of our homes, alone or with family, we had to adapt to this difficult period. If some of us took the opportunity to reinvest in our kitchen or try our hand at baking bread, for others the first confinement had negative effects on their eating behavior and, consequently, on their weight.

No more snacking during confinement

Public Health France conducted an investigation between the 5^e and the 8^e week of confinement on the eating behavior of 4,000 French people over the age of 18. Respondents answered several questions about their eating habits during these troubled times. The conclusion is not surprising: 37% of participants, regardless of gender, changed their eating behavior. However, more women report certain specific behaviors such as snacking between meals, loss of appetite and increased consumption of fatty, salty and sweet products. Both men and women said they paid more attention to their weight during confinement and 27% of those polled said they saw the needle on the scale tilt to the right.

If women seem to have had a more complicated relationship with food than men during confinement, the weight gain observed by the participants is not related to sex or age. Obviously, the bad eating habits and the decrease in sports activity did not help, but the survey highlights light other factors that have influenced the weight gain: a difficult financial situation, depression and sleeping troubles. The relationship between depression – and poor mental health in general – and weight gain has long been studied by scientists, but the strength of the link between the two pathologies very widespread depends on the studies considered. Obesity is a risk factor depression, and vice versa, depression can also promote obesity. Some conclude that it is stronger in adults, others in adolescents.

No long-term effect on the weight of young people?

Children and teenagers have also seen their world turned upside down. Distance courses, stopping sports and extracurricular activities, all of this has heightened the feeling of anxiety and stress linked to the pandemic. The minors were not included in the survey of Public Health France, but other international studies were interested in them. In Italy, 40 young patients aged between 2 and 18 years old during one of the confinements experienced by the country and for them, the weight is already a source of concern because they have a BMI average of 30. The confinement altered their relationship to food, favoring food intake. According to the study, their number of daily meals has increased. Despite everything, this did not have a significant effect on their BMI, their blood sugar, their cholesterol among others, after confinement. This unpleasant episode does not seem to have had a negative effect in the long term.

Another study, conducted this time in Israel, also agrees: confinement did not significantly change the BMI or the body proportion of fatty tissue in young people already affected by obesity. It even had positive effects on those underweight, making them gain weight. mass muscular. If this work seems rather positive, it is not for all that generalizable to all young people. The cohorts included both children, pre-teens and teens. Three different ages, three different stages of development. The relationship to food, to the body or even to the health situation is different for each of them. Just as their family situation is different.

Did the eating behaviors born during the pandemic continue afterwards? The scientific literature is not very talkative on this subject, but it appears that the mental health of some people was durably impacted by this bitter period. For others, the financial situation remains difficult despite the economic recovery. These two factors do not help to take control of your diet and get rid of bad habits. The confinement did not have only negative effects, some took the opportunity to reinvest in their kitchen and prepare dishes from A to Z, others supplied themselves with fresh and local products directly from the producers. But these good habits did not necessarily survive the return to “normal life.” “