Impact of COVID-19 on Health-Related Behaviours, Well-Being and Weight Management

Abstract Background: Weight management is complex even in times of stability. Supporting individuals to develop strategies to maintain a healthier weight is beneficial. This paper reports data from an ongoing mixed-methods study describing the impact the COVID-19 lockdown situation had on people engaged in weight management. Information on health-related behaviours and well-being was captured from surveys completed by Slimming World (SW) members 0-4 weeks after joining providing pre-joining and baseline (T0&T1) data, and after 3 (T2) and 6 months (T3-during COVID-19). Representative samples from the general population, not attending a weight management service, completed the same questionnaires.Results: 1884 SW members completed the baseline survey and 222 completed all three surveys up to May 2020, achieving a weight loss of 7.7±7.5% during this time. SW members were able to maintain most of the positive health-related behaviour changes they had made since joining, including increased fruit and vegetable consumption (p<0.001), having fewer sugary drinks (P<0.001), cooking from scratch more (p<0.001) and increasing activity levels (p<0.001). During the COVID-19 situation members were still reporting improvements in all behaviours compared to before joining and had healthier scores than the general population on all but alcohol intake, although still within guidelines. Qualitative data indicated that the COVID-19 situation created various challenges to managing weight for both groups with fresh foods harder to access, comfort eating, drinking more alcohol, eating more sugary foods and snacking through boredom. However, some people also reported having more free time enabling better planning, more time to cook from scratch and increased physical activity.Conclusions: The findings highlight the value of supporting individuals to develop sustainable behaviour changes and a level of resilience to draw upon and manage their weight even in challenging times.