Was the COVID-19 pandemic a teachable moment for a healthier lifestyle in adults?

Aim Events of context marked by an increased capacity for some sort of change, such as living a healthier lifestyle, are known as “teachable moments” (TM) and commonly occur during or after a significant health event. In this context, the COVID-19 pandemic may constitute a potential TM for lifestyle change. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic could be a TM for a healthier lifestyle and to examine potential predictors for intention to change lifestyle behavior. Subject and methods This is a cross-sectional online survey study, conducted between June 25, 2021, and July 30, 2021, using the Google Forms® platform. The survey included questions related to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Participants were asked to report their sex, age, weight, height, race, educational level, hometown, family income, comorbidities, COVID-19 diagnosis, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Data analyses were conducted using SPSS version 20.0, and the significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results Overall, we showed that more than 30% of our sample had high intentions to improve general lifestyle, dietary habits, sleep quality, and physical activity behavior as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The strongest predictors of higher intentions to change health behaviors with the pandemic were individuals with (a) COVID-19 diagnosis with hospitalization, for alcohol consumption (OR = 8.82, 95% CI: 1.67 to 46.49, p = 0.01); (b) higher affective response, for sleep quality (OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.36, p < 0.01); (c) NCD COVID-19 risk, for general lifestyle (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.96, p = 0.04); (c) older age, for alcohol consumption, dietary habits (OR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.03, p < 0.01), and general lifestyle (OR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.03, p < 0.01); (e) female gender for dietary habits (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.14 to 2.11, p < 0.01); and (f) higher affective response for physical activity (OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.06 to 1.37, p < 0.01). Conclusion In our study, more than a third of healthy adults had higher intention to improve general lifestyle, dietary habits, sleep quality, and physical activity behavior as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.