When more than 1,000 people were surveyed on how they reacted to COVID-19’s threat to their health, respondents reported that in addition to prompting the usual resolutions to quit smoking, lose weight and exercise more, the pandemic spurred interest in lowering consumption of fast or processed foods, soda, alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana.
Respondents reported increased levels of sleep (72 percent), starting an exercise program, or exercising more often (63 percent), reducing or quitting drinking (60 percent) and reducing or quitting marijuana smoking (57 percent). More than half the respondents (56 percent) also reported eating more healthy food during lockdown than before, and nearly as many reduced their intake of fast and processed foods (55 percent).
Reasons for taking health more seriously included: Increased downtime, saving money on unhealthy items, increased awareness of mortality, increasing their resistance in the event of COVID infection and wanting to set a good example for at-risk people.
The survey relied on self-reporting and responses were not weighted or subjected to statistical testing. It’s best understood as a “purely exploratory look at preventive health measures,” according to the surveyors.
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