More women than men saw weight rise during lockdown

MAJOR STUDY OF ALMOST MILLION PEOPLE WAS DRIVEN BY EXPERTS FROM LEICESTER

WOMEN were more likely than men to gain weight during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, a study suggests.

Experts also found that both sexes under the age of 45 were more likely to put on the pounds than those in other age groups.

However, the research found that 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 was at a time when awareness was growing of the fact severe Covid-19 is affected by weight.

The authors, including from the University of Leicester and Leicester General Hospital, said that overall more women than men moved up a weight category, while people aged over 75 “were more likely to lose weight compared to other age categories post lockdown”.

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.

“Nevertheless, more research is needed to understand the reasons behind these changes in body weight and obesity levels.”

Professor Thomas Yates, who also worked on the research, added: “The implications of even modest weight gain at a population level in younger adults and women could translate into more diabetes, heart disease, cancers and other serious obesity-related health problems over the coming decades in these populations unless action is taken to reverse the effects of lockdown.

“These data also suggest societal inequalities, with black individuals more likely to put on pandemic weight and move up at least one BMI category compared to other ethnic groups.”

The research, on almost a million adults in the UK, is being presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Maastricht.

It used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) of more than 200,000 UK GP practices, which includes information on BMI just before lockdown in March 2020, and in the year or so afterwards.

Of 938,164 people included in the initial analysis, 32 per cent were classed as a healthy weight before lockdown, while 35 per cent were overweight and 33 per cent were obese.

Of those who were obese, they were regarded as either class 1 (BMI of 30 to 35), class 2 (35 to 40) or class 3 (over 40).

Some 58 per cent of those in the study were female and 83 per cent were white. Deeper analysis of 273,529 people found that most (83 per cent to 93 per cent) remained in the same BMI category before and after lockdown. Of those who were a healthy weight, 83 per cent remained in the same BMI category postlockdown, 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 that 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 post-lockdown.

In one example, 17 per cent of younger, overweight adults moved into obese categories post-lockdown, compared with 7 per cent to 13 per cent of those in the other age groups.

Lockdown disrupted daily routines, making it challenging for people to eat healthily and keep fit

David Kloecker