The COMET study: Examining the effects of COVID-19-related perceived stress on Los Angeles Mothers' dysregulated eating behaviors, child feeding practices, and body mass index.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions and mandates have had pronounced implications on the well-being of individuals. This study conducted exploratory analyses of the relationship between COVID-19-related life changes and COVID-19-related perceived stress and associations between COVID-19-related perceived stress and dysregulated maternal eating behaviors, child feeding practices, and body mass index (BMI) in Los Angeles mothers. Mothers (Mage = 37.6 ± 6.9) of children aged 5-11 (N = 197, response rate 92.5%) completed an online questionnaire assessing COVID-19-related life changes, COVID-19-related perceived stress, mechanisms used to cope with COVID-19, child feeding practices, their own eating behavior, demographics, and height and weight. The highest proportion of participants reported changes to work, disruptions due to childcare challenges, and increased home responsibilities. Higher COVID-19-related perceived stress was experienced by those who reported loss of work hours (29%), loss of job (15.2%), reduced ability to afford childcare (18.8%), and reduced ability to afford rent/mortgage (19.8%) (ps < 0.05) than those who did not. The most common strategy that mothers indicated using to cope with COVID-19 related stress was eating comfort foods (e.g., candy and chips) (58.7%). COVID-19-related perceived stress was positively associated with mother's BMI and emotional eating (ps < 0.05). Rewarding their child's eating and behavior with food were both positively associated with the number of COVID-19 related life changes (ps < 0.05). This study yields new knowledge of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mothers' dysregulated eating behaviors and child feeding practices. The results highlight the importance of conducting further research to confirm these findings and understand the nature of associations between COVID-19-related perceived stress and health. This is crucial in order to explore ways in which lasting impacts of the pandemic on mental and physical health can be prevented.

Eating to Cope With the COVID-19 Pandemic and Body Weight Change in Young Adults.

PURPOSE: Life disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are particularly salient for young adults. Some young adults may engage in unhealthy eating practices to cope with social distancing and isolation during the pandemic, which could increase incidental weight gain. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of eating to cope with the pandemic with body weight change in young adults before versus after spread of COVID-19. METHODS: Data included the baseline (October/2018-October/2019) and follow-up (May/2020-July/2020) assessments from an ongoing longitudinal cohort recruited from Southern California. A diverse sample of participants (54% Hispanic; age = 19.72[.47] years; N = 1,820) completed online self-report measures of weight at baseline and follow-up and were given a checklist of pandemic coping behaviors including overeating (yes/no) and eating high fat or sugary foods (yes/no) to cope with social distancing and isolation during the pandemic. RESULTS: With and without adjusting for confounders, young adults who did versus did not report overeating to cope with the pandemic gained more weight from baseline to follow-up (5.55 vs. 2.54 lbs). Unhealthy food intake to cope with the pandemic was not associated with weight change. Baseline weight moderated the association of eating coping practices with weight change such that individuals with higher baseline weight gained more weight if they engaged in eating to cope behaviors versus not (p's≤.001). CONCLUSIONS: Unhealthy eating behavior to cope with the pandemic and corresponding body weight increases may be occurring in young adults. Interventions to promote healthy eating practices in young adults warrant consideration for weight gain prevention during the pandemic.