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A Systematic Review of the Impact of the First Year of COVID-19 on Obesity Risk Factors: A Pandemic Fueling a Pandemic?

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Daniels, Natasha Faye  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0384-0542
Burrin, Charlotte 
Chan, Tianming 
Fusco, Francesco 

Abstract

Obesity is increasingly prevalent worldwide. Associated risk factors, including depression, socioeconomic stress, poor diet, and lack of physical activity, have all been impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This systematic review aims to explore the indirect effects of the first year of COVID-19 on obesity and its risk factors. A literature search of PubMed and EMBASE was performed from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 to identify relevant studies pertaining to the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (PROSPERO; CRD42020219433). All English-language studies on weight change and key obesity risk factors (psychosocial and socioeconomic health) during the COVID-19 pandemic were considered for inclusion. Of 805 full-text articles that were reviewed, 87 were included for analysis. The included studies observed increased food and alcohol consumption, increased sedentary time, worsening depressive symptoms, and increased financial stress. Overall, these results suggest that COVID-19 has exacerbated the current risk factors for obesity and is likely to worsen obesity rates in the near future. Future studies, and policy makers, will need to carefully consider their interdependency to develop effective interventions able to mitigate the obesity pandemic.

Description

Keywords

COVID-19, depression, diet, financial stress, obesity, physical activity

Journal Title

Curr Dev Nutr

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2475-2991
2475-2991

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier BV