Exploring Gender Differences in the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Weight, Eating Frequency and Stress Among Adults in Puerto Rico: Assessments of Puerto Rico-CEAL

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate changes in weight, eating frequency, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic among adults in Puerto Rico and examine differences by gender. METHODS: Individuals were men and women (n = 551 ≥18 yr.) who completed the Puerto Rico Community Engagement Research Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities online survey from December 30, 2021, to January 28, 2022. Three individual items assessed perceived changes in weight, eating frequency, and stress throughout the pandemic (March 2020 to survey completion), with response options being ‘increased’, ‘decreased’, and ‘no change’. Multiple logistic and multinomial regressions models were used to examine the association between gender and perceived changes in all three outcomes. Models were adjusted for age, education, income, employment, number of children in the household, having to care for someone with COVID-19, marital status, and pre-pandemic obesity. RESULTS: Of the total eligible sample with complete data on study variables (n = 524), mean (SD) age was 38.2 (14.5) years, 52.7% had some college education, and 73.3% were women. Over half (53.0%) reported an increase in weight during the pandemic, 42.5% an increase in eating frequency, and 74.2% an increase in stress. In adjusted regression models, women (vs. men) were more likely to report an increase in eating frequency over no change (RRR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.01, 2.39) and marginally significantly more likely to report an increase in weight over no change (RRR = 1.56; 95% CI = 0.99, 2.48). In addition, women (vs. men) had twice the odds of reporting an increase in stress levels (OR = 2.14; 95% CI = 1.36, 3.36). CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of the sample reported increases in weight, eating frequency, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, and women were disproportionally affected by these pandemic outcomes. Interventions tailored for women are needed to reduce the pandemic impact on weight, eating frequency, and stress in Puerto Rico and preserve overall health. FUNDING SOURCES: This work has been supported by the National Institute of Health-National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH-NHLBI).