The Impact of COVID-19-Related Lockdown on Diet and Serum Markers in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Due to limited data about the impact of lockdown on health status, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19-related lockdown on changes in dietary habits, physical activity and serum markers in healthy adults. A total of 38 asymptomatic adults aged from 23 to 59 with a normal BMI (22.5 kg/m2) participated in baseline and post-lockdown measurements that included dietary and physical activity assessment, anthropometric measurements and blood samples; and the lockdown survey which included dietary assessment and questionnaires about changes in lifestyle and physical activity. A decreased diet quality during lockdown was observed (Healthy Eating Index reduced from 64.59 to 61.08), which returned to near baseline post-lockdown. Energy intake decreased during lockdown (p = 0.002) and returned to baseline post-lockdown. Despite lower physical activity levels during lockdown (p = 0.035), we observed no significant changes in body composition. However, we observed a significant increase in serum glucose (p = 0.005), total cholesterol (p = 0.003), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (p = 0.049) post-lockdown. Increase in serum glucose levels was pronounced in subjects with higher increase in energy intake (p = 0.039), increased omega-6 fatty acids intake (p = 0.016), those who were exposed to several risky contacts (p = 0.018, compared to those with less risky contacts) and those who were not active in nature (p = 0.008, compared to those active in nature). Increased serum LDL was correlated to decreased monounsaturated fatty acids intake (p = 0.028). Within the limits of this preliminary report, changes in serum markers observed among healthy subjects point to a possible impact of COVID-19-related lockdown on adults’ health to be confirmed in larger groups.

Multiplying effects of COVID‐19 lockdown on metabolic risk and fatty liver

“…Modification of lifestyle by COVID‐19 lockdown caused also perceived stress, 33 worse sleep quality, 33,34 reduced physical activity 29,34‐36 and altered dietary habits (ie variable adherence to Mediterranean diet, 29,33,37 lower meat and fish consumption, 29 high fast food consumption 29 and reduced consumption of fresh food 38 ).…”

Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions on College Students’ Dietary Quality and Experience of the Food Environment

“…In addition, the total HEI scores in the present study were much lower than a 2019 study of U.S. college students at a state university, who reported a mean total HEI score of 63.3 [ 44 ]. A limited number of studies have quantitatively assessed HEI during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 16 , 31 ]. In a sample of adults in Quebec, Canada, LaMarche et al [ 16 ] observed a small increase in 2015-HEI scores (+1.1 points) during the early COVID-19 lockdown relative to the prepandemic baseline (mean: 69.0 points).…”

“…Many studies have evaluated the impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on dietary quality or other aspects of dietary intake [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. The majority of studies reported lower dietary quality [ 9 , 11 , 14 , 15 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], with one study showing improved overall HEI [ 16 ] and others indicating improved dietary quality in some aspects [ 20 , 21 , 24 , 27 ], such as increased intake of fruits and vegetables [ 27 ] and decreased intake of alcoholic beverages [ 20 , 24 , 27 ] and sugar-sweetened beverages [ 21 ]. Four of the aforementioned studies evaluated the effect of the pandemic on dietary intake among college students, including one in Vietnam [ 15 ], one in Italy [ 13 ], one in Spain [ 27 ], and one multi-country study, which included a small sample from the U.S. […”

“…However, no study to date has evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students’ shopping habits, meal preparation practices, or how they feel about eating. In addition, prior studies have had little consistency in how they have evaluated dietary changes and diet quality, with only a few using reliable indicators of dietary quality such as HEI [ 16 , 31 ]. The purpose of this study was first to evaluate whether the early COVID-19 pandemic affected Texas Woman’s University (TWU) students’ ability to buy food, how/what they shopped for, how they prepared food, what they ate, and how they felt about eating, identifying key themes in any changes using qualitative methods.…”

Association of Food Intake Quality with Vitamin D in SARS-CoV-2 Positive Patients from Mexico: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In a study by Bogataj Jontez, et al in healthy individuals [ 31 ], there was also a slight worsening in diet quality during quarantine; however, concerning dietary intake of vitamin D, it remained considerably below the RDA’s during five months of quarantine. Although in our study, dietary intake assessment was only performed once, as previously reported in a population-based study by Ramírez-Silva, et al [ 12 ], the dietary intake of vitamin D in the Mexican population is 2.62 ± 1.22 μg; therefore, according to this report, vitamin D intake was estimated to be deficient in the patients evaluated regardless of pandemic containment measures.…”