COVID-19 and changes in young adults' weight concerns

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to college students' well-being.
• Existing research has not fully explored the pandemic's impact on college students' weight concerns.
• Understanding these changes is crucial for developing targeted health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the weight concerns of young adult college students.
• To examine changes in weight concern trajectories before and after the onset of the pandemic.
• To determine if sex moderates the relationship between the pandemic and weight concerns.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 355 college students (aged 19.5 years on average) from September 2017 to September 2021.
• Utilized piecewise growth-curve models to analyze changes in weight concerns.
• Oversampled participants with recent substance use behavior and examined sex as a moderator.

Main Results:

• Participants reported a significant increase in weight concerns coinciding with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Weight concern trajectories did not show significantly different slopes before and after the pandemic's onset.
• Moderation analyses revealed a significant increase in weight concerns for females post-pandemic, but not for males.

Conclusions:

• The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an immediate rise in weight concerns among college students.
• The impact of the pandemic on weight concerns was moderated by sex, with females experiencing a greater increase.
• Findings underscore the need for gender-sensitive mental and physical health support for students during public health crises.