Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on initial weight loss in a digital weight management program: A natural experiment.
Obesity (Silver Spring)
; 29(9): 1434-1438, 2021 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1233224
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on initial weight loss during a digital weight management program.METHODS:
Participants (n = 866,192; BMI 33.6 [SD 7.4] kg/m2 ) who joined a digital weight management program (WW) in the first 30 weeks of 2020 (COVID-19 cohort) were compared with participants (n = 624,043; BMI 33.1 [SD 7.2] kg/m2 ) who joined the same program during the same time period in 2019 (control cohort). Weight change (percentage) and self-monitoring over the first 4 weeks of enrollment were compared between the cohorts. Significance was defined as meeting the criteria for a small effect (d ≥ 0.2).RESULTS:
Over the 30-week enrollment period, the COVID-19 cohort experienced significantly less weight loss than the control cohort but only for 7 weeks of enrollments. The COVID-19 cohort also had fewer days of food tracking but only for 3 weeks of enrollments. There were no differences in the self-monitoring of weight and activity at any time between the two cohorts.CONCLUSIONS:
Over a 30-week enrollment period, COVID-19 had negative effects on both weight loss and food self-monitoring, but the effects were short-lived. Those participating in evidence-based weight management programs can expect similar levels of initial weight loss as those experienced before the pandemic.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Weight Loss
/
Pandemics
/
Weight Reduction Programs
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
Obesity (Silver Spring)
Journal subject:
Nutritional Sciences
/
Physiology
/
Metabolism
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Oby.23233
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