COVID-19, body weight and the neighbourhood: food system dimensions and consumption associated with changes in body weight of Peruvian adults during first wave lockdowns

Introduction

The COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, it is spread through human-to-human transmission mainly by droplets or aerosols. An infected person can manifest mild flu-like symptoms like fever, cough and fatigue. However, in severe and critical conditions, especially among people suffering from non-communicable diseases, it can cause multiple organ dysfunctions and a higher risk of death.1 It was declared a pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020.2 Ever since, it has caused the saturation of health systems worldwide and the disruption of all human activity, including daily food purchasing behaviours, vendors’ availability, eating habits and income.

To reduce contagion,3 most territories in the world implemented voluntary or compulsory social distancing measures. In Peru, after confirming seven cases of COVID-19, the government declared a State of National Emergency on 1 6March 2020.4–6 Strict borders closures; suspension of classes and non-essential work; and strict lockdown and curfews lasted until the end of June 2020 and remained moderately strict the following months.

During the first stages of the lockdown, street vendors, who constitute a great proportion of the local food trading in Peru,7 were banned. Capacity limits were imposed in markets, grocery stores and corner shops, where long queues formed the first weeks. Some food providers were indefinitely closed. A few empty shelves were a sign of the coping mechanism adopted in response to the shortage threat.8

The pandemic has impacted the external domains of the food system, food prices and availability of foods, as well as the internal: accessibility, affordability, shelf life, convenience of the food product and desirability. It is not clear if these modifications to food acquisition and consumption practices could lead to deterioration of the nutritional status and health of populations and individuals.9 10 There is evidence that the pandemic and social distancing have negative effects on mental health, stress11 and physical activity12 which, added to changes in food consumption,13 could lead to weight changes.

In 2019, it was reported that 37.8% of the Peruvian adult population was overweight, 22.3% had obesity14 and 75.8% did little physical activity. The factors associated with greater sedentary lifestyle were being obese, female, to live in an urban area or in the country’s capital.15 The convenience and ubiquity of ultra-processed foods could also contribute to the increase of overweight and obesity11 16 and increase the risk for severe COVID-19 and higher mortality.17

Studies that assess weight variation during the COVID-19 pandemic are emerging. In Spain, 12.8% of adults that completed an online survey reported experiencing weight gain during confinement.18 In Chile, 25.6% of men and 38.1% of women out of a sample of 700 volunteers reported perceiving an increase in their weight.19

In virtual surveys in France20 and Zimbabwe,21 35% and 45.5% adults, respectively, reported an increase in their weight during compulsory social isolation. In Peru, only one study has explored the variation in body weight associated to eating habits and mental health during the pandemic. Authors found that out of 1031 respondents to an online survey, 38.9% reported an increase in their weight, while 29.3% reported having lost weight. Almost all bad habits and stressful scenarios were significantly associated with weight gain.22

In order to design policies and programmes that prevent food insecurity and malnutrition during the evolution of this pandemic, it is necessary to understand the effects of COVID-19 induced lockdown, given that this contention measures promote, either willingly or inadvertently changes in the food system and in the decisions that families make regarding their food consumption. In addition, understanding how these changes affect their health through increases in body weight can create a basis to better manage and understand the complexity of this topic for future similar events. Considering the scarce evidence in these subjects, the present study aims to assess the factors of the food system and consumption associated with the change in body weight in Peruvian adults from Metropolitan Lima after 108 days of mandatory confinement during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.

Methods

Results

Descriptive statistics

In total, 696 people accessed the web-based survey but two of them refused the informed consent and could not participate in the study. Figure 1 summarises the participant enrolment and data availability in this study.

Figure 1

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Participant enrolment and data available flow diagram.

Most participants were female (71.8%), aged between 18 and 44 years old (75.6%); 15.0% of participants indicated that they had a comorbidity. A percentage of 41.5 of participants had higher education. A percentage of 45.2 shared their residency with three to four people. A percentage of 68.9 of the volunteers reported a decrease in income. In addition, the majority perceived that their weight had changed (60.8%), weight gain was perceived in 38% of the volunteers and 22.8% perceived weight loss. A percentage of 39.2% did not perceive changes in their weight (table 1). Of the total number of participants who perceived weight gain at the time of filling out the questionnaire, 5.7%, 16.3%, 64% and 14% had perceived that they were underweight, normal, overweight and obesity, respectively, before stage of confinement (see online supplemental table 1).

Table 1

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Sociodemographic, economic characteristics, presence of comorbidities and perceived weight change

The changes in the food system affected factors in the external domain such as food availability, so the foods perceived as least available were fish and seafood (30.4%), fruits (24.2%) and vegetables (22.5%). The characteristics of the place of purchase considered most important were order and cleanliness (71.6%), low influx of people (66.3%) and affordable prices (48.7%). The most important characteristics of the food that motivated the purchase were that the food be nutritious (80.8%), fresh (61.7%) and with low risk of contamination (55.6%). In terms of accessibility, 66.1% of the participants said they preferred vendors within walking distance and 27.8% had to use a vehicle. At the level of internal control, it was found that 10.5% could not afford to eat as many meals as they usually did, 18.6% had to eat less food, 16.3% had to switch to cheaper food alternatives and 21.3% had to stop eating important foods (see online supplemental table 2).

Variation in consumption during the lockdown were observed. An increase of the consumption of vegetables (39.6%), fruits (36.2%) and cereals (31.4%) were reported while the consumption of sweets (40.6%), snacks (39.8%), alcoholic beverages (39.3%), sugary drinks (38.5%) and processed meats (36%) decreased (see online supplemental figure 1).

Discussion

The results of the study show that 60% of the participants perceived changes in their body weight, 38% reported weight gain, and the consumption factors associated with the risk of weight gain were lower consumption of fruit and higher consumption of alcohol, while at the food system level, the following factors that stood out as protectors were choosing nutritious foods and lower intake of cereals. However, at the level of the food system, the reduction in self-perceived body weight had as risk factors the reduction of the amount of food and not consuming any important food.

The perceived weight increase found in the study (38%) is consistent with most studies in countries such as Spain, Chile, France, Zimbabwe, Italy and Poland that have reported changes in weight in the adult population due to confinement and the COVID-19 pandemic.15 17–20 23 Studies in Peru, Zimbabwe and France also reported weight loss of 29.3%–31.2% and 23.0%, respectively, similar trends to those found in the present study.20–22

The most important risk factor associated with weight gain was increased alcohol consumption. A similar trend was found in a study in France and Poland, where alcohol consumption was notably increased during the lockdown.20 24 It is worth nothing that according to the evidence, alcohol consumption is positively associated with weight gain; hence, heavy drinkers may experience such an effect more commonly than light drinkers.25 Another risk factor for weight gain was decreased consumption of fruits. Other data have previously shown that increased consumption of fruits did not lead to an increase in weight gain; this relationship has multiple factors involved and should be better addressed in future studies.26 27

In the present study, a decrease in cereal consumption during confinement was found to be a protective factor, reducing the risk of weight gain by 51%. The role of cereals for weight gain becomes important in Peru where the consumption of white rice is estimated at 50 kg/year per person.28 Some studies such as that of Pellegrini et al16 in Italy report that increased cereal consumption correlated with significantly higher weight gain during confinement as well as that of Sawada et al29 in Japan where they found that high rice consumption was associated with a higher risk of body weight gain.

Another protective factor against weight gain found in the study was choosing nutritious foods as a purchase driver. A longitudinal study in France reported that people who lost weight reported having stopped eating a food to avoid weight gain and considered the period of confinement as a great opportunity to better balance their diet,20 while in Italy it was found that choosing unhealthy foods was significantly associated with weight gain and body mass index in adults during COVID-19 confinement.16

In a high-income country such as Belgium, 5% of the population experienced not having enough money for food often or eventually and 10% could not afford a healthy diet during confinement.30

The factors associated with weight loss during confinement, eating less amount of food and missing important foods belong to the external domain of the food system, meaning they are factors beyond the control of individuals. A study in Peru, carried out during lockdown, found that weight reduction was associated with moderate to severe food insecurity at home.30 Food insecurity is characterised by survival strategies such as reducing serving size and stop the consumption of foods deemed important.31 These results are similar to those found in Colombia during confinement, where 35% of families reported lacking money to buy food, while 15.3% reported eating less amounts in main meals.32 Weight loss was observed in individuals with previous low weight and those who reported eating less. This pattern is seen in low-income populations and particularly in individuals that attained lower educational levels.33

Our study is the first to analyse the factors of the food system and food consumption that influence body weight variations in Peruvian adults during the strictest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. It has several limitations, such as the cross-sectional design, identification of risk and protective factors for the increase or decrease in body weight could be better assessed through longitudinal studies. Using a non-probabilistic sampling, self-administered questionnaire, lack of anthropometric information could affect the response rate and accuracy of data collected. Also, the Morales and Carbajal silhouettes scale has been validated in young adults only. Internet and device access are also barriers that could promote under-representation of people with scarce resources. However, this methodology was selected for being the best alternative to reach people located in different districts of Metropolitan Lima during the strict lockdown.

The results of the study indicate that there were changes in the food system, consumption and body weight. If more sedentary behaviours due to confinement are considered, there could be an increase in risk factors for severe and fatal COVID-19.

Changes in food system factors and in intake behaviour during the pandemic and lockdowns associated with body weight variation, such as increased alcohol consumption, decreased fruit consumption, restrictions in quantity and frequency of nutritious foods, are among those known to activate the innate immune system and impair adaptive immunity leading to increased chronic inflammation and reduced defence against viruses.34

Conclusions

The results of this study show that 60.8% of respondents noticed variations in their body weight during the lockdown. Body weight gain was mostly associated with changes in food consumption habits such as increased alcohol intake and decreased intake of fruits, while regarding internal factors of the food system, eating less cereals and nutritious value of the food as purchase driver were found as protective habits against weight gain. Finally, body weight loss was associated with external factors of the food system such as having to eat smaller portions and missing important foods.

This study provides information related to the situation of the food system and the perception of body image in an urban area in Peru. Lima is a multicultural city like most Latin American capitals, so the results obtained could be replicated in other Peruvian urban areas and in other major cities in the region where most people can access new methods of data collection such as web-based surveys

More sedentary and diverse behaviours are evident due to confinement, which increases the risk factors for COVID-19. Given this, it is necessary to promote preventive policies, guidelines, programmes and communications that help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on food systems, consumption habits, physical activity and active rest and aim to promote healthy lifestyles that can adapt to the restrictions that could arise and protect the population.