Weight gain in the pandemic: You’re not alone, and it’s not your fault

I recently penned an article for KevinMD that speaks about some of the overlooked factors that have been driving weight gain in the pandemic. Without a doubt, the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated what was already an out-of-control epidemic in our country: obesity.

As I noted in my KevinMD article, the COVID-19 pandemic represents the single most disruptive health crisis of the past 100 years. It has disrupted basic, taken-for-granted societal routines, which subsequently has prompted dynamic changes in our behavior. The ramifications of these disruptions have yet to be fully quantified. But, suffice to say, a lot of people died in 2020 because of the pandemic — and not all of them had COVID-19.

In 2020, and now moving deeper into 2021, our society is witnessing a far greater number of deaths due to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and other diseases than we would typically see in a non-pandemic world. These deaths are testament to the significant impact of the social isolation and dietary changes that are being driven by this pandemic. It’s also a strong reminder to all of us that health is both environmental and communal in nature. It is not, as we so often think, simply a condition of the individual.

Obesity — the thread that links so many of the conditions that are devastating our nation’s collective health during this pandemic — is a case in point. One of the missed headlines in 2020 was a study released by the National Center of Health Statistics (NCHS) showing that the obesity rate had eclipsed 40 percent in the United States for the first time, with more than 73 percent of U.S. adults being obese or overweight. That obesity rate is up from 30.5 percent just two decades ago in 2000. The rise of obesity at such an alarming rate is not just a health emergency. It is, in fact, one of the largest national security threats our country has faced, given the economic and troop readiness effects of obesity on our military preparedness.

Obesity in America has often been blamed on the typical fast-paced, over-scheduled lives of Americans. For a majority of Americans, the pandemic put this fast-paced, commute heavy, lifestyle on ice. In addition, spending more time at home should have meant many people suddenly had greater control over what they ate. Some people were able to take the opportunity to reinvent their lifestyles for healthier living. But most did not — and it’s not their fault.

So why have millions of Americans struggled with weight gain in the pandemic? Obesity is a complex disease, made all the more complex within the context of a global pandemic. Check out my KevinMD article for a look at four often-overlooked factors that have contributed to obesity’s deeper creep into our population these past 12 months.