RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Weight gain in Chinese youth during a 4-month COVID-19 lockdown: a retrospective observational study
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e052451
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052451
VO 11
IS 7
A1 Yaoshan Dun
A1 Jeffrey W. Ripley-Gonzalez
A1 Nanjiang Zhou
A1 Baiyang You
A1 Qiuxia Li
A1 Hui Li
A1 Wenliang Zhang
A1 Randal J. Thomas
A1 Thomas P. Olson
A1 Jie Liu
A1 Yuchen Dong
A1 Suixin Liu
YR 2021
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/7/e052451.abstract
AB Objectives To observe the weight change in Chinese youth during a 4-month COVID-19 lockdown, and the association between weight change and mental health, physical activity and sedentary time changes, and dietary habits.Design A retrospective observational study.Settings Two universities located in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces, China.Participants This study enrolled 12 889 college students whose body weight was measured before the lockdown (1 December 2019–20 January 2020) at the two universities, and reported their weight measured at home or community after the end of the lockdown (1–23 May 2020) via an online follow-up questionnaire.Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome was the weight change in Chinese youth during a 4-month lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary outcomes were the relationships of weight change to COVID-19-related stress, depression, anxiety, physical activity and sedentary time changes, and dietary habits.Results Participants’ ages ranged from 17 to 27 years (M=19, SD=1) with 80.2% identified as female. The average absolute and relative changes in body weight were 2.6 (95% CI 2.0 to 3.2)) kg and 4.2% (95% CI 4.0% to 4.3%) for men, and 2.1 (1.9 to 2.4) kg and 4.2% (95% CI 3.9% to 4.4%) for women. An increase in overweight and obese individuals according to Asian cut-off points as a demographic percentage by 4.5% and 2.7% and 4.8% and 3.4% in men and women, respectively (P<0.001), was observed. Weight gain was significantly associated with increased sedentary time and an increase in COVID-19-related stress and depression score.Conclusion The present study’s results suggest that the risk of weight gain in Chinese youth during the lockdown increased and that strategies to decrease sedentary time and improve mental health may be warranted to mitigate weight gain during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Data are available upon reasonable request. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, SL.