Coping with stress during the pandemic has caused physical changes for many Americans – some have put on unwanted weight and others have unintentionally lost weight. The American Psychological Association’s Stress in America pandemic survey of 3,013 adults in the US found that the majority, 61%, said they experienced unwanted weight changes.
Forty-two percent of American adults said they gained more weight than they intended, and of that, the amount they reported gaining an average of 29 pounds. Ten percent said they had gained more than 50 pounds. Weight gain that leads to obesity can put people at higher risk of serious coronavirus disease.
More women (45%) reported weight gain than men (39%), but men reported a higher mean gain of 37 pounds, compared to the women’s mean of 22 pounds.
The study also split the data by age group, with 48% of millennials reporting weight gain. This group reported the highest average weight gain of 41 pounds. Just over half of Gen Z adults reported unwanted weight gain, with an average gain of 28 pounds.
Dr. Angela Fitch, vice president of the Obesity Medicine Association, told CBS News that she finds millennials’ numbers “striking.”
“As a specialist in obesity medicine … I certainly find it alarming,” said Fitch. “But you can see where this could be the case. I mean it’s been a really challenging year, on multiple levels.”
Fitch, who is deputy director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center, said she has seen patients at the center struggling with weight as a result of the pandemic. “I’ve had many patients back who said they were gaining weight, who I had seen before the pandemic, and who were doing pretty well at losing weight,” Fitch told CBS News.
While self-reported surveys are often less accurate than studies where researchers measure participants, other research follows evidence of pandemic-era weight gain. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found participants in a heart health study whose weight was monitored from Feb. 1 to June 1, 2020, gaining about 1.5 pounds a month after states issued shelter orders last spring had set.
Fitch said that if further data supports the self-reporting of APA survey participants, and Americans have really gained that many pounds, “it will be a significant problem for us in the United States.”
“I haven’t seen any data on this yet,” Fitch said. ‘So I don’t know if we have anything better to say than this [survey]
The survey found that the groups most affected by weight gain were also among those who faced additional challenges during the pandemic: parents and key workers. About half of each group reported unwanted weight gain, with parents reporting an average weight gain of 36 pounds and essential workers an average weight gain of 38 pounds.
“We’ve seen many of our patients who are nurses who say that quite a bit, that they’ve had weight gain, because of the stress and because it’s difficult to eat in the hospital right now – taking off your mask to drink, eating is challenging. situation, so it makes eating possibly not as healthy or skipping meals and then eating more at once, ”Fitch said.
The study also found that 18% of the participants reported unwanted weight loss shed an average of 26 pounds.
Weight changes weren’t the only problem reported in the survey. Many people also said they experienced unwanted changes in sleep patterns and increased alcohol consumption. Sixty-seven percent said they slept more or less than desired since the start of the pandemic, and 23 percent said they drink more alcohol to deal with their stress.
Fitch added that drinking more alcohol certainly contributes to a higher calorie intake. “That, being at home more, eating more from stress, and stress itself is a known factor in weight gain and obesity,” she said.