FSU Study Challenges Student Perceptions

Madison Leigh Gerhard, a Florida State University student from Colts Neck, New Jersey, has plans to begin a physician assistants program after earning her bachelor’s degree. Madison Leigh Gerhard studies psychology at FSU. The FSU Department of Psychology performs and publishes studies on important psychological behaviors one of which is related to the effects of quarantine on health.

In March 2020, many across the country were forced to remain in their homes in response to a pandemic that spread out-of-control quickly, finding themselves stuck inside. Many reported experienced weight gain as a result of being sedentary, which has been coined Quarantine 15. With nowhere to go, some felt their weight slowly crept up as many became sedentary, sitting hours at a make-shift work station while working remotely, and if there was exercise, it meant walking back and forth to the bathroom or refrigerator.

However, FSU researchers found that this weight gain might be more imagined than real. The study “Gaining the Quarantine 15: Perceived versus observed weight changes in the wake of COVID-19” looked at a sample of students from January to April in 2020. The study looked at the actual weight and the reported weight of students based on a five-part scale, ranging from underweight to very overweight.

The study found that one in 50, or two percent of the participants, had a change in body weight that would change their weight category. On the other hand, 10 percent of the reported their weight to be higher when for many their weight remained the same with a few gaining weight.

The study has implications beyond Quarantine 15, ones that suggest weight worries contribute to other anxieties. Moreover, these concerns might lead to unhealthy practices associated with weight control such as juice cleansing, dieting, fasting, and excessive exercise.