Impacts of changing work from home patterns on health behaviours and obesity: insights from the late COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND

Numerous studies on work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic link it to reduced physical activity, increased alcohol use, and weight gain, mainly under stringent pandemic restrictions. We investigated whether changes in work-from-home levels from pre to late pandemic are associated with health behaviours during the late pandemic, controlling for family and work factors.

METHODS

Using 8195 participants from the 2022 wave of the Swedish Longitudinal Survey of Health, we used logistic regression to analyze the associations between changes in the amount of remote work from pre-pandemic to late pandemic, and physical inactivity, problem drinking, and obesity. Models were first adjusted for age and sex; then for civil status, having children under the age of 12 years at home, and occupation; and finally for job stress, work-family conflict, and family-work conflict.

RESULTS

Individuals who decreased work from home had 17% higher odds of being physically inactive (fully adjusted model OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.00-1.37) compared to those who did not change their amount of work from home. Changes in work from home were not statistically significantly associated with problem drinking or obesity. However, there was a tendency for those who decreased work from home to have higher odds of obesity (OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.94-1.24), although the association did not reach statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest, although the associations were weak, that work from home could offer opportunities for individuals to be more conscious of their health and to engage in healthier behaviours.