BACKGROUND: The Movement Control Orders (MCO) in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the lifestyle behaviours, weight changes, and mental health of the population.
AIM: To determine the changes in physical activity, sedentary behaviour, body weight status and mental health status among Malaysian adults before and during the pandemic.
METHODS: A total of 338 Malaysian adults participated in this cross-sectional online study. Sociodemographic and anthropometric data were self-reported. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were assessed using International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) while the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) were used to examine stress, depression and anxiety, respectively. All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 28.0.
RESULTS: The results showed an average weight gain of 0.6 kg among the participants with 45.5% of them experiencing weight gain. In addition, sedentary behaviour (p
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.