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Association between eating behavior and quarantine/confinement stressors during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak
Since people confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic may alter their dietary behaviors due to the stressful nature of the situation, this 2020 study aimed to examine the association between quarantine/confinement stressors with dietary behaviors, comparing the group of subjects who attend diet clinics and those who don’t (general population). Haddad et al. recruited 407 participants from the Lebanese population and provided them with web-based online surveys and Eating Disorder Examination – Questionnaires (to assess behavioral features of eating disorders). According to the surveys, 53% of the subjects abided by the home quarantine/confinement, 95.4% were living with someone in the quarantine/confinement, and 39.6% continued to work from home. The surveys also revealed higher fears of COVID-19 in 182 (44.8%) participants, higher boredom in 200 (49.2%) participants, higher anger in 187 (46.3%), and higher anxiety in 197 (48.5%) participants. Greater fear of this disease, higher BMI, and physical activity were significantly associated with a higher restraint score, while variables such as higher anxiety levels, higher fear of COVID-19, higher BMI, practicing physical exercise, and a greater number of adults living in the quarantine/confinement were significantly linked with increased shape and weight concerns. This study provides evidence that fear of the COVID-19 is correlated with elevated eating restraint, weight, and shape concerns in the whole sample, but more specifically in the dietitian clients group. [NPIDs: COVID, coronavirus, pandemic, immunity, the immune system, COVID-19, Lebanese, eating disorders, boredom, anxiety, fear]
Year: 2020
