Anxiety and eating disorders during the quarantine of Covid-19: an observational study

During quarantine, imposed in a pandemic situation by COVID-19, fears, and uncertainties, in addition to social isolation, are characterized as risk factors for the mental health of the general population and the effects can be felt through the manifestation of conditions anxious, depressive or even binge eating. Binge eating can be caused by anxiety, especially during quarantine, and the act of eating is often linked to a way of relieving negative feelings. The research in question was carried out using an online questionnaire, based on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and on the symptoms of binge eating defined by the Brazilian Society of Neuropsychology. The questionnaire covered 944 people, who answered questions about the theme “anxiety and binge eating during quarantine”, 76.9% were female and 23% male. Of these people, 80% said they ate to escape from worries or relieve stress in this period of the pandemic, when questioning how much the frequency of meals per day and quantity changed, there were no significant changes, however, approximately 50% of people at least doubled their consumption of industrialized foods, sweets, and fast foods. Most people (80%) are feeling a greater fear than normal, in addition to feeling that this isolation is affecting mental health and routine and 78.6% have already experienced shortness of breath, palpitations, or restlessness during this period. This group of people stated that this moment has negatively affected their daily activities, on a scale of 1-10, 76.5% placed it at 5-10. It was asked about the presence of mood swings, negative thoughts, and discouragement, 73.8% of people answered yes, in addition, on a scale of 1-10, 50% were between 5-10 when the question was the search food as a way to feel better. Finally, 82.1% of people said they were more anxious in the quarantine period. Regarding the results, there was a pattern indicating a correlation between anxiety and higher levels of stress and behavior in which food has a compensatory role towards this psychic imbalance possibly caused by quarantine. The first question in the questionnaire is broad and serves as an overview of how much food is a frequent thought for respondents. In it, 64% "said sometimes" and 15% "always" think about food during the day. As for the frequency with which they eat, the results indicated that only 37% of the interviewees showed a significant increase. However, when it comes to food quality, more than 20% scored between 8 and 10 on a scale of 0 to 10, when it comes to increased consumption of processed foods. Showing worsening in the nutritional quality of the interviewees. It is concluded that the majority of people who answered the questionnaire reported signs that indicate the occurrence of anxiety, based on the Hamilton scale, such as fear and worry. Depending on these data, there was an increase in the consumption of processed foods, sweets, and fast foods, which are more accessible and palatable, leading to a feeling of pleasure at specific times.