Eating alone and weight change in community-dwelling older adults during the coronavirus pandemic: A longitudinal study

• Published in: Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) Los Angeles County, Calif.), 2022-10, Vol.102, p.111697-111697, Article 111697
• Main Authors: Kubo, Yuta, Noguchi, Taiji, Hayashi, Takahiro, Tomiyama, Naoki, Ochi, Akira, Hayashi, Hiroyuki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Activities of Daily Living - psychology; Adults; Aged; Applied Nutritional Investigation; Body mass index; Body Weight; Body weight loss; Cognitive ability; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Dependent variables; Eating; Eating together, Japan, Nutrition, Underweight, Weight loss; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Health problems; Humans; Independent Living; Independent variables; Japan - epidemiology; Living arrangements; Longitudinal Studies; Meals; Medical treatment; Missing data; Mortality; Older people; Pandemics; Polls & surveys; Population; Regression analysis; Response rates; Social interaction; Statistical analysis; Surveys; Underweight; Weight control; Weight Loss; Weight loss measurement
• ISSN: 0899-9007; 1873-1244
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2022.111697

•For older adults, eating alone causes weight loss, which leads to health problems.•The number of older adults who eat alone increased during the study period.•Habitually eating alone was associated with subjective weight loss.•It may be necessary to establish measures for older adults who eat alone. It is likely that the number of older adults who eat alone has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Older adults who eat alone tend to experience weight fluctuations. Weight loss and underweight in older adults cause health problems. The study objective was to longitudinally investigate the association between changes in eating alone or with others and body weight status in older adults. This longitudinal cohort study was conducted in March and October 2020 in Minokamo City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Questionnaire data for 1071 community-dwelling older adults were analyzed. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed using changes in eating alone or with others as the independent variable and body weight status as the dependent variable. The analysis was adjusted for age, sex, living arrangements, educational level, diseases receiving medical treatment, cognitive status, depression, and instrumental activities of daily living. Missing data were imputed using multiple imputation. The average age of participants was 81.1 y (SD, 4.9 y). Individuals who reported eating alone in both surveys were more likely to report weight loss than those who reported eating with others in both surveys (adjusted model: odds ratio, 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–4.78; P = 0.04). These findings suggest that measures to prevent weight loss in older adults who eat alone are particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic.