Nearly half of U.S. adults piled on excess pounds during the first year of the pandemic, making a national obesity crisis even worse, a new study shows.

"Obesity was an epidemic before the pandemic, and little was known on body weight changes in the past year for adult Americans," said lead researcher Jagdish Khubchandani, a public health professor at New Mexico State University. "We wanted to estimate weight changes in the U.S. population and its determinants after the first year of the pandemic."

To do that, Khubchandani and his colleagues surveyed more than 3,400 adults and found that 48% said they gained weight during the first 12 months of the pandemic—March 2020 to April 2021.

Those who reported*weight gain*were more likely to be male, white or Hispanic, married, aged 45 or older, have a full-time*job, have less than a college education, and to live in southern and western states or rural areas.

The researchers also found that people were more likely to have gained weight if they were overweight before the pandemic (just over two times more likely), had children at home (1.39 times), had depression or anxiety (1.25 times), or checked body weight within the last six months (1.32 times).

The study was published in the January issue of the journal*Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews.

The finding that*weight*gain was more likely among certain groups already vulnerable to poorer health outcomes is concerning, Khubchandani said.

The pandemic may widen existing health disparities and increase the chronic disease burden for some groups, he explained.

"It's a perfect health storm," Khubchandani said in a university news release. "The U.S. consists of an*adult population*where the majority suffer from a chronic disease, are either overweight or obese, do not meet the physical activity guidelines, or have unhealthy eating patterns with lower consumption of fruits and vegetables."

A previous New Mexico State University study found that the pandemic fueled stress-related unhealthy eating habits in Americans.

"Our study relates to a lot of national trends indicating high stress in some groups such as parents, essential workers, and those with limited incomes and lower education," Khubchandani said. "Even before the*pandemic, stress was a major determinant of unhealthy lifestyles in adult Americans, and the problem continues to worsen for certain groups."

 https://medicalxpress.com .. emic-year.html



Alot of smoked brisket during pandemic.

proof that without a racist economy, Americans don't know what to do, except eat and sit around

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Stop blaming COVID they were already on their way to getting fat b4 being locked indoors

Yall so miserable on this site. I been eating so good during this pandemic.

Yeah, gained a total 24lbs.

Dropped 5 lbs last month, but sh*t is hard getting back in routine.

yola said proof that without a racist economy, Americans don't know what to do, except eat and sit around

"Educational" system, media and the design of American towns and cities makes that inevitable.

00010111 said "Educational" system, media and the design of American towns and cities makes that inevitable.

not for me

yola said not for me

For a minority, sure but most Americans are overweight.

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I'm not gonna lie I was down bad when they shut down the gym and put on about 25 lbs. Dropped about 20 of them last year tho

Happy to know I went the other way.

Gyms were closed down, alot of people did not come outside and unless they had to, and most people don't have exercise equipment at home. It makes sense.

Yea no sh*t when you're telling people if they step outside they're going to die and k*ll everyone around them.

I actually got healthier during the pandemic because I started cooking more at home v.s eating out for lunch when I had to go to the office.

I wonder the rise on addictions to alcohol and drugs. That sh*t had to have skyrocketed. No job, not allowed outside, checks keep coming though.. and if you're in a house with people you don't get along with like that.. sh*t is brewing for a mess.

Gamemusic said Gyms were closed down, alot of people did not come outside and unless they had to, and most people don't have exercise equipment at home. It makes sense.

Nah. Realistically though most people were already fat and had unhealthy eating habits before the pandemic.

There's so many exercise videos online that people can follow along to while at home and their FREE.

You don't have to go the gym and train like an Olympian to stay in shape.

Eat Healthy and move around a bit and you wont gain a lot of weight. A lot of people simply lack the discipline and dedication.

Yeah, it's been hella big linebacker blocking doors with their fat a*s backs.

Tehuti said view image

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Gyms were closed so I built one in my apartment. Got an adjustable bench press with a squat rack, adjustable dumbbells, kettlebell, jump ropes and resistance bands. Between that an running at this outdoor sports track up the road never missed a beat, if anything I’m mad I didn’t do this sooner.

It makes sense… common sense

Everyone getting $$$$ to eat and just sit around. All those calories and not using the energy? Weight gain. Gyms being closed and people using that as an excuse to just sit at home? That brings laziness…. When ur lazy u don’t wanna eat healthy, so u buy all these fast foods….. 1,000 calories for 3 slices of pizza or a Big Mac meal??? Weight gain!!

@

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Ironically, during the pandemic (especially the shutdown) I could still work and gave up beer and fast food. I still grab some wendys or bk here and there, but nothing like I was. I was eating out 4 times a week and now I'm only eating out 2 or 3 times a month.


Went from 280 to 257.


Time to hit these weights again and get my pull up game right

I lost 44 lbs

First place I stopped going when the pandemic hit was the gym. I remember being in there the day after the world went crazy. Then I was like "What the fu*k am I doing here. These weirdo fu*ks already barely wipe down the equipment when they done"

I bounced and ain't been back since. Lost all my gains from being in the gym 4 days a week between 2017-2020. Now I'm just a regular body civilian again.

Gained about 20lbs that first year inside. Wasn't buying resale market dumbbells from d*ckheads charging 5x the price. Now I'm back to my regular weight, from getting my diet back on point, running, and home bodyweight exercises.

The 1st 3 month I was eating everything in sight hotdogs and cinnamon rolls. Then I start eating better after watching a lot those health documentaries and then I decided to make the change.Now I’m I vegetarian and cutting out more conditioned habits here and there. COVID was low key an excellent thing for me. No deaths in the fam and I received a lot of time to sit around and do nuthin and focused on improving my live.

Lost 25 pounds since July. Sitting at 209, just about back down to my college weight.

That COVID20 ain’t no joke.