Have Americans been Unhealthy during Covid?

Have Americans gained weight since the stay at home order was put into place? 2020 has been a wild year so far. It started off strong but things started to go downhill fast. By the middle of March, the country went into lockdown. With gyms being closed, people being encouraged to socially distance, and a lot of jobs going remote for the time being, it was not hard to find an excuse to stay inside all day.

Since the Covid-19 Quarantine, or as some people might call it “Quarantine +15”, (referring to some people gaining 15 pounds) people’s daily routines have changed, and everyone’s habits changed too. Those habits may include staying in bed longer, not exercising as much, or going to the fridge one too many times. And with many people being stressed out about the world-wide pandemic or being bored from being locked inside for so long, there was one thing that could make people happy, food. In an interview from www.avera.org, Morgan Douthit, a Well-Being Specialist said, “Some eat out of stress about losing control over a lot of things. Others, out of boredom and more ready access to food.” 

What have Americans been eating during quarantine? According to the website www.loseit.com, there was an increase in carb-heavy meals like bread (54%) and noodles (36%) at the end of March. Although, Americans may have been eating carb-heavy meals that does not necessarily mean they will gain weight. According to www.NHS.UK,  “Any food can cause weight gain if you eat too much. Whether your diet is high in fat or high in carbohydrates, if you frequently consume more energy than your body uses, you’re likely to gain weight.” 

Does being overweight have an effect on your health and Covid-19? According to the CDC’s website, “Having obesity puts people at risk for many other serious chronic diseases and increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.” Doctors, like Dr. Stephens, warn people that “In fact, obesity is the number one risk factor for developing a severe case of COVID-19 in people under the age of 55.”

So how unhealthy has America been? According to Withings, an electronic wifi scale company with 100,000 users, “only 37% of Americans gained more than 1 pound of weight. The Average U.S. weight gain was 0.21 pounds.” We do have to take into account that this data was only from the first few months of quarantine. Overall, that is not bad at all, and America as a whole did a good job being healthy during the pandemic.