Quality more important than quantity Emotional eating and weight gain

As the new year starts, you may be planning to tackle Covidrelated weight gain. Try these four healthy eating tips from nutritionists Clare Collins and Rebecca Williams.

IN Australia and around the world, research is showing changes in body weight, cooking, eating and drinking patterns associated with Covid lockdowns.

Some changes have been positive, such as people cooking at home more and eating more vegetables.

But many people have also reported snacking more, and eating and drinking in response to stress.

As the new year starts, you may be planning to tackle Covidrelated weight gain. Before you do, consider that it may be better to focus on your eating patterns, rather than looking to the latest fad diet.

A survey of 13,829 Australian adults found one in five reported drinking more alcohol during Covid. In a survey of over 22,000 drinkers in the United Kingdom, onequarter reported drinking more than usual over the previous week.

In Italy, of 602 people surveyed about changes in their eating habits during isolation, almost half said they sought “comfort foods” and ate more to feel better.

Eating and drinking alcohol boosts the release of “feelgood” chemicals in your brain, making you feel better in the short term.

During times of stress, anxiety and boredom, such as during lockdown, food and alcohol can seem like a quick fix. But overindulging isn’t going to help you in the long term.

According to a global WebMD poll on selfreported weight gain during the pandemic, about onequarter of people in Hong Kong and Germany reported gaining weight, roughly 45% in Australia, Canada and the UK, and more than 60% in Brazil and Italy.

United States respondents who reported putting on weight were asked to estimate how much weight they thought they had gained. Some 49% said less than 3kg, 26% said 3kg4kg, and 25% reported more than 4.5kg.

Participants believed a lack of exercise, stress eating and drinking more alcohol were contributing factors.

It’s not just about weight

While weight gain can increase your risk of health problems, recent research suggests having healthy eating patterns is more important than weight.

A US study of 210,000 adults followed for up to 32 years found that irrespective of body weight, having a highquality diet was associated with lower risk of heart disease and stroke compared with having low diet quality.

A highquality diet includes lots of variety within the basic food groups of vegetables, fruit and wholegrains, and includes limited junk food. A lowquality diet is the opposite.

Similarly, a Swedish study followed 79,000 adults over 21 years and found that among people with a higher body weight, also having a highquality diet was protective against dying from any cause. But having a body weight in the healthy range was not protective among those who had a lowquality diet.

While higher diet quality is associated with better overall health, increasing your diet quality can also help reduce weight.

Four tips to improve your diet and beat Covid kilos

Home cooking and eating together

If you spent more time cooking and eating meals at home during the pandemic, keep doing it. As well as being better for you than eating takeaway foods and readymade meals, it promotes wellbeing.

A study of 160 adults found people who ate healthy foods cooked at home experienced more intense positive emotions and worried less, compared with people who ate away from home.

For adolescents, a review found frequent family meals were associated with higher selfesteem and other indicators of better mental health.

Eat more vegetables and fruit

A US study of 133,468 adults found those who increased their vegetable and fruit intakes lost weight. Every extra daily serve of fruit was associated with a weight loss of 250gm over a fouryear period, and every extra daily serve of vegetables with a loss of 110gm. People who ate more berries, apples, pears, cauliflower, green leafy vegetables and carrots experienced greater weight loss.