‘WOMEN MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO GAIN WEIGHT DURING PANDEMIC’

Women were more likely than men to gain weight during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, a study suggests. Experts also found both sexes under the age of 45 were more likely to put on the kilos than those in other age groups.

But the research found the vast majority of people stayed around the same weight or did not move into another weight category, according to their body mass index (BMI).

This came as awareness was growing of how severe Covid-19 was affected by weight.

The new research, involving almost a million British adults, was being presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Maastricht. It used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink of more than 200,000 general medical practices.

The study found most (83-93 per cent) remained in the same BMI category before and after lockdown. Of those who had a healthy weight, 83 per cent remained in the same BMI category post-lockdown, 14 per cent became overweight or obese, and about 3 per cent moved into the underweight category. Of those who were overweight, 11 per cent gained weight while 12 per cent lost weight.

Meanwhile, of those who were obese, 9 per cent lost weight and moved down to the overweight, normal or underweight categories, while 5 per cent moved up at least one category.

The study found more women than men gained weight. For example, in the overweight category, 13 per cent of women versus 9 per cent of men became obese.

Similarly, compared with older age groups, those aged younger than 45 were more likely to gain weight and move up at least one BMI category postlockdown.

Dr David Kloecker, who worked on the study, said: “Prolonged periods of lockdown disrupted daily routines making it challenging for people to eat healthily and keep fit, with emotional eating and sports club closures likely intensifying the trend.”