Eating behaviors, eating styles and body mass index during COVID-19 confinement in a college sample: a predictive model

Background COVID-19 confinement affected lifestyles. There is inconclusive evidence about changes in eating patterns, and there are few studies on the impact on body mass index (BMI), the occurrence of dysfunctional behaviors (binge eating, fat intake), and the predictive role of maladaptive eating styles (emotional, external, and restrained eating). Objectives (1) To analyze the differences in binge eating, fat intake, BMI, and maladaptive eating styles before and during COVID-19 confinement, and (2) to analyze whether maladaptive eating styles (before confinement) predicted binge eating, fat intake, and BMI during confinement. Methods The sample consisted of 146 Spanish college students, divided into 104 females (71.2%; age: M = 22.20, SD = 2.97) and 42 males (28.8%; age: M = 24.74; SD = 3.53). All completed several dietary measures and BMI twice: before COVID-19 confinement (T1, November 2019) and during COVID-19 confinement (T2, April 2020). Results BMI and maladaptive eating styles did not change in T2 (vs. T1). However, binge eating and fat intake decreased in T2. Emotional eating at T1 positively predicted BMI and binge eating at T2. External eating at T1 positively (and marginally) predicted fat intake at T2. Restrained eating at T1 positively predicted binge eating at T2, and negatively (and marginally) predicted BMI and fat intake at T2. The model explained 80.5% of the variance in BMI, 41.5% of the variance in binge eating, and 25.8% of the variance in fat intake during COVID-19 confinement. Conclusions The COVID-19 confinement had a positive impact on some eating behaviors. Future policies should focus part of their prevention on maladaptive eating styles to curb dysfunctional eating behaviors and BMI problems in times of stress.