New research shows that lifestyle and financial constraints resulting from coronavirus lockon lead people to eat more processed foods.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – What’s the point in working out, dieting well, and imagining the perfect beach body if you never get the chance to show it off? All physical inactivity, time spent at home, and emotional stress during coronavirus lockon, can escalate the obesity epidemic that a new study from the University of Copenhagen finds.
In short, researchers believe that the coronavirus creates a perfect storm of psychosocial insecurity that could lead to much bigger obese obstacles in the coming months and years. They say certain measures should be taken to keep everyone safe from COVID-19 without sacrificing their “metabolic health”.
“We are concerned that policymakers do not fully understand how strategies such as lockdowns and business closures can prevent the onset of obesity – a chronic disease with serious health implications, but with few reliable treatment options,” says Associate Professor Christoffer Clemmensen, of the Novo Nordic Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR), in a publication.
At the top of the concerns of researchers is the long-established trend of people with less “economic resources” who often eat unhealthy, more processed foods. By hitting the world economy, millions of people all over the world suddenly find themselves in a worse financial situation.
“It is likely that more people will turn to these forms of food as more people lose their jobs and experience economic hardship,” explains study co-author Professor Michael Bang Petersen, from the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University .
How social distance affects mental health, eating habits
Another big factor in all this is social distance. The practice of staying away from other people in this pandemic is obviously a necessary evil. But when it comes to fighting obesity, it almost certainly exacerbates the situation. Staying away from friends and family immediately increases stress and anxiety. This, combined with the fact that so many people are sitting at home with nothing else to do, promises too much stimulation and excessive snacking.
Let us also not forget how difficult it is for most people to get a meaningful workout at home. It is easy to understand why experts ring the proverbial obesity alert.
According to Professor Thorkild IA Sørensen of CBMR at the University of Copenhagen, one of the co-authors of the study, modern science does not yet understand the full extent of the relationship between mental health, finances, and obesity risk.
“We know there are links between obesity and class and a person’s mental health, but we do not understand exactly how they affect one,” he notes.
More research is needed here to fully understand all the elements of cause and effect while playing. However, researchers are confident in their scientific expectations that both social distance and the rising rate of unemployment will lead to more obese individuals.
Researchers suggest that governments and health organizations keep both these metabolic considerations in mind when deciding on containment strategies. With enough effort, it might not be impossible to develop some ways to keep people safe from COVID-19 while also maintaining metabolic health.
The study is published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology.
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