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Study to explore how diet and exercise are affected by social distancing

A new study is investigating how spending more time at home during the coronavirus pandemic is affecting people’s diet and exercise.

    The research, led by nutrition and exercise scientists at Nottingham Trent University, aims to better understand how people’s habits have changed since social distancing measures were put in place.

    The researchers are appealing for participants for the study, who will be required to answer a series of questions about their habits pre and post lockdown via an online survey.

    There have been suggestions that obesity and obesity-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes increase the severity of Covid-19 symptoms and the likelihood of hospitalisation.

    Part of the work will involve investigating how meal timing impacts the effectiveness of physical activity. This follows evidence which suggests that fasted exercise – when people exercise on an empty stomach – provides greater health benefits than fed exercise.

    The questionnaire will reveal what times of day people eat and exercise, which will enable the researchers to identify the most appropriate time of day to implement a fasted exercise intervention for the next stage of the work.

    “Lack of physical activity and poor nutrition are the driving factors behind obesity, so we want to see how behaviours and patterns have altered from what people were doing pre-social distancing,” said Tommy Slater, a PhD researcher in NTU’s School of Science and Technology who is leading the study.

    He said: “The uncertainty around Covid-19 and the duration of social distancing measures means that we need to be prepared for longer periods of time at home and understand how this might influence our behaviour.

    “Given the potential link between obesity and the severity of the disease, it is important to identify how our behaviour has changed since social distancing was put in place. We then hope that this will lead to the development of interventions to reduce the impact long-term.”

    The questionnaire for the study can be found here.

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      NTU was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards. The award was based on performance and improvement in the Guardian University Guide, retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students. NTU was also the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017, and The Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience. The university has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.

      It is one of the largest UK universities. With nearly 32,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. With an international student population of more than 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook. The university is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable NTU to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was awarded University of the Year in the UK Social Mobility Awards 2019. A total of 82% of its graduates go on to graduate entry employment or graduate entry education or training within six months of leaving. Student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 87% satisfaction score in the 2019 National Student Survey.

      A total of 82% of its graduates go on to graduate entry employment or graduate entry education or training within six months of leaving. Student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 87% satisfaction score in the 2019 National Student Survey.

    Published on 5 June 2020
    • Subject area: Sciences including sport sciences
    • Category: Press office; School of Science and Technology