The first year of the pandemic in the United States brought with it an increase in obesity and alcohol consumption in the country, although Americans exercised more, smoked less and slept better, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The study draws these conclusions following studying data on obesity risk factors from 3.5 million people over the age of 20, and obesity was 3% higher in the first year of COVID-19 compared to 2019 and first months of 2020 before the pandemic broke out. Read here: Obesity: a cause of infertility in men and women
In this period, the body mass index increased by 0.6% according to this study, which perceives “significant changes” in four factors: physical exercise, sleep duration, alcohol consumption and smoking.
There was another positive fact, the decrease in tobacco consumption, by 4%. But alcohol consumption, another risk factor for obesity, increased by 2.7%.
Thus, physical exercise increased by 4.4% in the first year of the pandemic, as did the duration of Americans’ hours of sleep by 1.5%.
According to the authors of the study, the increases in physical exercise and hours of sleep were not enough to counteract the increased consumption of alcohol and “other behaviors” among which the increased consumption of “snacks” or snacks is cited. It may interest you: Obesity: the magnet of multiple diseases
Also, remember the article, although lower tobacco consumption is healthier, it can also cause weight gain.
