Objective: We investigated emotional eating behaviours and perceived stress during COVID-19 partial quarantine according to BMI levels in healthy adults. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: An online survey included demographic variables, eating attitude-related questions, Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ), and Perceived Stress Score-14 (PSS-14) was sent via online data collection platform. Self-reported weight, height and weight changes during the quarantine were also collected. Participants: A total of 506 people age between 20-65 years who were partially quarantined due to COVID-19 participated in this study. Results: Body mass index (BMI) was positively correlated with EEQ (r= 0,205, p=0,001). However, BMI was negatively linked with PSS-14 during COVID-19 (r= −0,125, p=0,001), indicating that participants with lower BMI had higher perceived stress during COVID-19. Participants gained weight during the lockdown situation (+1.20 ± 1.70 kg in men; +0.91 ± 1.40 kg in women). EEQ and PSS-14 scores of women found to be significantly higher than men (9.39 ± 5.37 in men vs. 11.17 ± 5.85 in women for EEQ; 24.67 ± 8.32 in men, vs. 27.99 ± 7.34 in women for PSS-14. Obese participants consumed sweetened and carbonated drinks two-fold more in those compared to other participants. Conclusion: These findings suggest that partial quarantine may be closely related to emotional eating and weight gain, and participants with higher BMI showed more emotional eating behaviours. Therefore, certain precautions should be considered beforehand in order not to cause long-term eating disorder problems.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of anthropometric measurements and dietary habits on telomere length in healthy older residents in rural and urban areas.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The study population included 81 healthy older individuals aged ≥80 years. A quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to determine dietary habits. Anthropometric measurements were taken by researchers. The telomere length of individuals was determined from leukocytes using quantitative polymerase chain reaction.Results: Urban women had longer telomeres than rural women (P < 0.05). Rural men had significantly higher hip circumference, middle-upper arm circumference and fat-free mass than urban men (P < 0.05). It was shown that while fresh vegetable consumption was higher in rural areas, carbonated drink consumption was higher in urban areas (P < 0.05). In women, homemade bread and sugar consumption were higher in rural areas, and honey consumption was higher in urban (P < 0.05). Red meat, milk-based dessert and pastry consumption explain telomere shortening by 22.5%, 24.8% and 17.9%, respectively. In addition, the model based on anthropometric measurements also contributes to explaining telomere shortening by 42.9%. Conclusion:Red meat, milk-based dessert and pastry consumption, and waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio are associated with telomere length. Longer telomeres are associated with a healthy, balanced, adequate diet and maintaining a healthy body weight/proportion, and they are crucial for achieving healthy aging.

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