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Diet and lifestyle behaviour disruption related to the pandemic was varied and bidirectional among US and UK adults participating in the ZOE COVID Study

Mazidi, Mohsen ; Leeming, Emily R. ; Merino, Jordi LU ; Nguyen, Long H. ; Selvachandran, Somesh ; Pujal, Joan Capdavila ; Maher, Tyler ; Kadé, Kirstin ; Murray, Benjamin and Graham, Mark S. , et al. (2021) In Nature Food 2(12). p.957-969
Abstract

Evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health behaviours in the general population is limited. In this retrospective longitudinal study including UK and US participants, we collected diet and lifestyle data pre-pandemic (896,286) and peri-pandemic (291,871) using a mobile health app, and we computed a bidirectional health behaviour disruption index. Disruption of health behaviour was higher in younger, female and socio-economically deprived participants. Loss in body weight was greater in highly disrupted individuals than in those with low disruption. There were large inter-individual changes observed in 46 health and diet behaviours measured peri-pandemic compared with pre-pandemic, but no mean change in the total... (More)

Evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health behaviours in the general population is limited. In this retrospective longitudinal study including UK and US participants, we collected diet and lifestyle data pre-pandemic (896,286) and peri-pandemic (291,871) using a mobile health app, and we computed a bidirectional health behaviour disruption index. Disruption of health behaviour was higher in younger, female and socio-economically deprived participants. Loss in body weight was greater in highly disrupted individuals than in those with low disruption. There were large inter-individual changes observed in 46 health and diet behaviours measured peri-pandemic compared with pre-pandemic, but no mean change in the total population. Individuals most adherent to less healthy pre-pandemic health behaviours improved their diet quality and weight compared with those reporting healthier pre-pandemic behaviours, irrespective of relative deprivation; therefore, for a proportion of the population, the pandemic may have provided an impetus to improve health behaviours. Public policies to tackle health inequalities widened by the pandemic should continue to prioritize diet and physical activity for all, as well as more targeted approaches to support younger females and those living in economically deprived areas.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Food
volume
2
issue
12
pages
13 pages
publisher
Springer Nature
external identifiers
  • scopus:85121429912
ISSN
2662-1355
DOI
10.1038/s43016-021-00398-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5c5ffae8-606f-4392-b251-479cbaf7b5ab
date added to LUP
2022-01-28 12:53:18
date last changed
2022-04-27 07:28:23
@article{5c5ffae8-606f-4392-b251-479cbaf7b5ab,
  abstract     = {{<p>Evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health behaviours in the general population is limited. In this retrospective longitudinal study including UK and US participants, we collected diet and lifestyle data pre-pandemic (896,286) and peri-pandemic (291,871) using a mobile health app, and we computed a bidirectional health behaviour disruption index. Disruption of health behaviour was higher in younger, female and socio-economically deprived participants. Loss in body weight was greater in highly disrupted individuals than in those with low disruption. There were large inter-individual changes observed in 46 health and diet behaviours measured peri-pandemic compared with pre-pandemic, but no mean change in the total population. Individuals most adherent to less healthy pre-pandemic health behaviours improved their diet quality and weight compared with those reporting healthier pre-pandemic behaviours, irrespective of relative deprivation; therefore, for a proportion of the population, the pandemic may have provided an impetus to improve health behaviours. Public policies to tackle health inequalities widened by the pandemic should continue to prioritize diet and physical activity for all, as well as more targeted approaches to support younger females and those living in economically deprived areas.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mazidi, Mohsen and Leeming, Emily R. and Merino, Jordi and Nguyen, Long H. and Selvachandran, Somesh and Pujal, Joan Capdavila and Maher, Tyler and Kadé, Kirstin and Murray, Benjamin and Graham, Mark S. and Sudre, Carole H. and Wolf, Jonathan and Hu, Christina and Drew, David A. and Steves, Claire J. and Ourselin, Sebastien and Gardner, Christopher and Spector, Tim D. and Chan, Andrew T. and Franks, Paul W. and Gibson, Rachel and Berry, Sarah E.}},
  issn         = {{2662-1355}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{957--969}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Nature}},
  series       = {{Nature Food}},
  title        = {{Diet and lifestyle behaviour disruption related to the pandemic was varied and bidirectional among US and UK adults participating in the ZOE COVID Study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00398-3}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s43016-021-00398-3}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}