Research will gauge pandemic’s impact on obesity and diabetes
Laura Anderson leads a team of co-investigators who received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on obesity and diabetes among adults participating in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.
The project, entitled “Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on obesity and diabetes among Canadians: a prospective population-based cohort study”, received a CIHR Project Grant valued at $742,050 over five years.
Obesity and diabetes are leading causes of morbidity, mortality and healthcare use in Canada and globally. Public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, including physical distancing and isolation, may have unintentionally increased the risk of obesity and diabetes among Canadians.
The study seeks to:
- Describe the changes in the prevalence or severity of obesity and diabetes from pre-, mid-, to post-pandemic;
- Determine the impact of public health preventive measures on pandemic-related risk factors, such as physical activity, mental health and unmet health care needs, on obesity and diabetes; and
- Apply a health equity approach to identify Canadians at greatest risk of obesity and cardiometabolic conditions following the pandemic.
