How To Manage Your Diet & Mental Health During Covid-19

Global restrictive measures were imposed in aim to combat Covid-19, and the government encourages its citizens to practice social distancing and good hygiene habits. This led to a rise in an eating disorder.

Most of us may have put on a couple of pounds during the lockdown with the late-night binge of your favourite Netflix shows and managing the stress of having to be locked up in your home. This bad habit continues even after the government in Japan allows its people to return to normal life as the situation deemed safe.

In a nutshell, people are experiencing stress and are ashamed of how their body looks now.

Billy Cleary, clinical director at mental health nonprofit organization TELL, agrees that self-compassion is vital during this time. People, he says, need to “give themselves permission not always to have it together” and remember that others are also struggling with similar feelings.

During this pandemic, people are turning to “comfort, distraction and control,” Cleary says. When we add uncertainty — which almost always increases anxiety — and boredom to the mix, and remove social interactions that make us accountable, people can lose “a sense of regulation” and spend a lot more time eating or engaging in sedentary behaviours.

On the other hand, social isolation can result in people losing weight, even if they haven’t been officially diagnosed with an eating disorder, says Aya Nishizono-Maher, an adviser at the Japan Association for Eating Disorders (JEAD) and professor at Meiji Gakuin University. In one case, a high-performing student neglected sleeping and eating to concentrate on her studies over fear she wasn’t doing enough by distance learning. In another, a woman always ate out to gauge how much to eat by watching others. When eateries closed, she lost her orientation. “For people who always need outside reference (for how to act appropriately), it’s very difficult to stay home,” Nishizono-Maher continues.

A survey of 278 people was conducted in April and May by JEAD and the results were astonishing. 33.3% of respondents diagnosed with anorexia said they had decreased food consumption, while more than half of those diagnosed with bulimia reported increased vomiting and use of laxatives.

One can work towards embedding positive habits into your daily routine. “Stress could make you reach out and eat whatever is closest to you, and sugars could feel like a pat on the back,” says Tokyo-based nutritionist Sheeba Majmudar. “But the good news is that health starts in the mind.”

Merely creating a structure of three meals a day and some healthy snacks can be very helpful. Sheeba says small steps are crucial, from searching for a recipe based on ingredients in the fridge to meal prep for the week. Starting by cooking only one meal a day and mixing healthy store-bought dishes with self-prepared meals can make things easier, as can getting children involved.

Those who have been less active can consider reducing their calories intake, but avoid eliminating food groups, she adds.