Research
Energy balance
Discontinuation of physical exercise during confinement is associated with weight gain, whereas maintaining or starting exercise is associated with weight loss.
Keep exercising or start moving if you haven't. Stopping exercise is linked to gaining about 1 kg, while continuing or starting helps you lose nearly 1 kg during confinement.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
those who maintained physical exercise or started exercising in this period lost an average of 0.9 kg and 0.8 kg, respectively, while respondents who did not exercise during lockdown gained on average 1 kg
Why this rating
Cross-sectional survey, self-reported exercise and weight.
Source
Physical and Psychological Effects Related to Food Habits and Lifestyle Changes Derived from COVID-19 Home Confinement in the Spanish Population
Miguel López‐Moreno et al. · Nutrients · 2020
DOI 10.3390/nu12113445
cross_sectional · n=675Cited 215×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- COVID-19 home confinement led to significant weight gain in 38.8% of the Spanish population, with higher BMI and older age being positive predictors of this weight increase.Moderate
- Emotional eating, particularly the inability to stop eating sweets or eating when stressed, is strongly associated with greater weight gain during confinement.Moderate
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