People should exercise, manage stress and eat healthily during a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert, Changhua Hospital said on Thursday.
Case managers overseeing people with chronic diseases have found that 80 percent of them have gained or lost significant weight during the virus outbreak, the hospital’s case management center said.
About 40 percent of the patients said they had lost 2kg to 3kg due to anxiety-fueled appetite loss, said Chiu Hsiao-chia (邱小佳), one of the case managers.
Most of those who lost weight reported discomfort due to wearing a mask at work, she said.
About the same percentage gained 3kg to 4kg, she said, adding that this was likely a result of work-from-home arrangements in which people tend to eat unhealthily and irregularly.
Yu Chun-pei (?君蓓), a nutritionist at the hospital, said that nutritional imbalance is the most common cause of sudden weight changes, among other reasons, such as lack of exercise or feeling upset.
Overweight people should eat less sugary or fatty foods, such as cakes, sweetened beverages, fatty or processed meats and packaged snacks, she said.
Drinking about 30ml to 35ml of water for every kilogram of body weight per day and a minimum of 150 minutes of exercise per week are required to stay healthy, she said.
People experiencing anxiety-related weight loss should relax and take steps to increase appetite, including trying new foods and changing the settings of their meals, she added.
Regular meals can be supplemented by deserts and snacks consisting of nuts, milk, soy milk and eggs, she said.
The appetite-boosting effect of exercise is important for some, and many forms of exercise are possible at home, she said, adding that aerobics and strength training are useful substitutes when gyms are closed.
In related news, the Health Promotion Administration is advising the public to moderate alcohol consumption during the virus alert, citing immune system and long-term health effects.
Drinking with friends on teleconference apps has become a substitute for seeing friends in shared spaces, the agency said on July 2.
Home drinking often leads to excessive drinking, because people do not have to worry about getting home safely, it said.
More than half of Taiwanese have a congenital lack of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol, the agency said, adding the deficiency is the reason many Taiwanese become red in the face when drinking.
People with the deficiency are significantly more prone to developing cancer or dementia as a result of alcohol use later in life, it said.
The latest research suggests that there is no minimum amount of alcohol that is safe, even for people with no enzyme deficiencies, it said.
Instead of consuming alcohol, people should drink water or tea, it added.
Men should not consume more than 20g of alcohol per day, or the equivalent of a small can of beer, the agency said, citing the government’s nutrition guidelines.
Women should consume no more than half of that amount, it said, adding that drinking alcohol during pregnancy is harmful to the fetus and illegal.
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