Perception of changes in the body weight of adolescents, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Córdoba Argentina, year 2020

Abstract

Abstract: 

The preventive and compulsory social isolation measures (ASPO) due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the lifestyle. In adolescence, the transitional stage of the life cycle, these changes can affect perceptions of their corporeality. Objective: To analyze the perception of changes in body weight and change initiatives during the ASPO in adolescents in the first and second year of middle schools, Córdoba, between June and July 2020.

Descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study in a non-probabilistic sample of students. Age, gender, school management, nutritional status by body mass index (BMI = self-reported weight / height2), perception of weight gain or weight loss, and strategies to modify weight were investigated. Adolescents received access to a digital questionnaire on the Limesurvey platform by email or text message and responded after reading information and giving consent. A database was created in free software PSPP v1.2.0 and WHO AnthroPlus. Frequency distributions and inferential analysis were described with the Chi Square test, with a significance level of p = 0.05.

66 adolescents (mean = 13.5 years, standard deviation = 1.9 years) from 9 private school participated. 52% identified with male gender. 29.2% were overweight, which was more frequent in women than in men (40.9% vs. 16%, p = 0.04). 38.7% manifested that during the pandemic they gained weight. 63.9% said that the increase in body weight caused them some preoccupation, with being more frequent in women than in men (85.7% vs. 43.8%, p = 0.04), while it was not associated with nutritional status (p> 0.05). 46.5% were preoccupation about losing weight, without differences according to gender or nutritional status (p> 0.05). 83.4% of women and 20% of men took some initiative to modify body weight (p = 0.01) during the pandemic, such as physical activity and modification of food consumption.

During APSO for COVID-19, there was a greater preoccupation about the increase in body weight in adolescents’ women than in men, being the women who took the greater initiative for change.