Emotional factors relating to weight gain during the COVID-19 pandemic at post-bariatric women from São Paulo: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on weight regain in post bariatric women and correlate it with symptoms of anxiety, depression, binge eating and fear of covid-19. Methods: It was collected anthropometric and mental health information with application of psychometric scales at the patients mentioned above, between May/2021 and January/2022. Frequencies (descriptive statistics), test t for independent samples and Spearman were used to obtain correlation between weight gain and the psychometric scales. Results: The sample comprised 25 women. The average age was 53.0 years and average body mass index was 35.2kg/m2 before the pandemic. We observed an average increase at the body mass index of 1.4 points during the pandemic. However, 40% maintained or lost weight during the same period. The weight gain group had higher scores for depression, anxiety and binge eating symptoms. Fear of covid-19 scores did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: Anxiety, depression and binge eating symptoms have influenced weight regain in a small sample of post-bariatric women during the covid-19 pandemic.