Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: does confinement have any impact on weight change perception?

Abstract Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between factors related to COVID-19 confinement (i.e., fear of COVID-19, anxiety, anger, boredom, eating disorders, and duration of confinement) and weight perception in a sample of the Lebanese population. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey carried out at a one-time point between April 3 and 18, 2020, enrolled 407 participants. Due to the imposed lockdown, respondents self-reported their weight and height. One dichotomized question (positive/negative) assessed the perception of weight change (yes=change perception, and no=no change perception). The variation in BMI was calculated by subtracting the estimated weight during confinement from the estimated weight before. Results: No significant variation in BMI was detected before and during the confinement (p=0.40), while a perceived weight change was found in 212 (52.1%) participants. The regression analysis showed that higher fear of COVID-19 score (ORa=0.96) and higher self-reported weight change (ORa=0.47) were associated with lower weight change perception. However, longer confinement duration (ORa=1.07), higher anxiety (ORa=1.05), and high eating concerns (ORa=1.81) were associated with higher weight change perception. Conclusion: Our results revealed that both the fear of COVID-19 and self-reported weight change were negatively associated with weight perception, while higher anxiety and a longer duration of confinement correlated with a higher weight change perception. Further studies are necessary to confirm our findings.