The last few years were definitely tough on our waistlines, and according to data from the USDA, adult obesity trends worsened throughout 2020 and 2021.  It did feel like that was a major subject, but sometimes it can be difficult to know which trends are real and which simply appear that way because we see man posts about them on social media. In this case, it was real.

Pandemic Behaviors Worsened Adult Obesity

According to a report from the Economic Research Service at the USDA, we did indeed greatly change our behaviors throughout the pandemic, and this worsened the adult obesity epidemic that was already problematic across the country, to say the least.

As the pandemic crisis spread in 2020, limited studies using surveys conducted online identified evidence that adults across the United States were gaining weight.  That said, because of the limited nature of the studies, the surveys could only be said to suggest that there might have been a trend and could not be used to confirm that hypothesis. They weren’t enough to represent the average US population and the findings didn’t provide a complete image of how weight had changed for that age group during that set period of time.

What the USDA Has Since Found

The USDA has since conducted a study that determined that, in comparison with a pre-pandemic period used as a baseline, adult obesity rose by three percent in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March 13, 2020, to March 18, 2021.

This is a troubling and statistically significant finding. It is considered to be a direct reflection of the impact that span of time had on the four behaviors associated with obesity.  It indicated that the pandemic caused people to change their behaviors in a way that placed them at a notably higher risk of this disease.

Also interesting was that throughout that year of time, Americans increased their exercise levels by 4.4 percent and slept 1.5 percent longer than they had been before March 2020. At the same time, the number of days in which alcohol was consumed within any given span of a month rose by 2.7 percent. Cigarette smoking fell by four percent.

Will Adult Obesity Trends Ease?

As COVID-19’s spread slowly makes its way through waves to the point that it is currently expected to reach an endemic state in 2024, according to a Yale study, it will be important and interesting to see which direction our habits take. Though lockdowns have eased in most areas, as have many restrictions, infection rates are still spiking and falling. The impact this will have on the behaviors relating to excessive weight trends – and the associated health issues from that disease – have yet to be seen.

An increase in the use of supplements such as TRIMTHIN X700 to support healthy lifestyle changes to achieve weight loss or weight control might be a reflection of a growing effort to reverse weight gain over the last couple of years. Data over the next year or two will help to provide a clearer picture of the choices Americans are making under newer circumstances.