Psychological strain and eating habits in the pandemic

Survey: 35 percent report weight gain since the beginning of the Corona pandemic. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have investigated possible changes in adult dietary habits and body weight after more than two years of pandemic. The results: 35 percent of those surveyed have gained weight, in some cases considerably, since the beginning of the pandemic. However, 15 percent of the adults have in part drastically lost weight since the beginning of the Corona crisis. TUM's Else Kröner-Fresenius Center for Nutritional Medicine (EKFZ) joined forces with the opinion research institute Forsa to survey 1,005 persons in Germany between the ages of 18 and 70 chosen according to a systematic random process. The scientists' primary focus is on the psyche: What is the connection between dietary habits and psychological conditions? During the past year 42 percent of those surveyed experienced some psychological stress due to the changes resulting from the Corona situation, while 20 percent experienced strong psychological stress for the same reason. "Unfortunately, during the Corona pandemic many people didn't succeed in keeping their weight under control," says Professor Hauner.