THE Covid-19 pandemic has forced people to stay indoors for a long period of time due to lockdown measures.
Not surprisingly, this promotes unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity. Unhealthy eating habits develop as we tend to binge-eat. Without the morning rush for work, there is ample time to elaborate food preparations, which tend to result in heavier meals.
Homes become like restaurants. Whilst meal times serve as quality time to strengthen family bonding, it also results in unhealthy, unbalanced diets.
The number of meals per day increases; instead of 3 meals a day, it could go up to 6 meals per day, including late morning, afternoon tea and supper.
The frequency is less during Ramadan although large meals are consumed when breaking the fast. Snacks in between meals have significantly increased due to boredom while in isolation.
Chocolate, sweets, ice cream are consumed to uplift the mood. Much of added sugar is found in snacks and desserts.
These poor eating habits can increase cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and body weight, ultimately resulting in heart disease and stroke.
It seems that the consumption of food has become a means of adaptation to a new daily routine during the lockdown period. A good way to maintain a balance between healthy and unhealthy food preparations is by paying attention to the ingredients we use in our food.
Main meals could include ingredients, which release sugars slowly or have low glycaemic indexes. This could mean substituting brown rice for white rice or brown bread instead of white bread.
Meals should also include a variety of food groups to ensure we get sufficient micronutrients like vitamin A, C and zinc and this will help us develop a healthy immune system.
A healthy immune system would help us in our fight against the coronavirus. For those of us who find it difficult to avoid snacking, one option is to adopt 'protein and produce' ingredients in our snacks.
This could mean snacks like cheese and apple, tuna mixes with yogurt and cucumber or peanut butter and celery. The other important aspect is to eat mindfully, which means not eating in front of the television or while doing work on the laptop.
We are all aware that the lack of physical activity is an important risk factor for poor cardiovascular health. For those who were already sedentary prior to the lockdown, the current enforced inactivity will probably worsen our sedentary lifestyles.
For those who were used to regular exercise outdoors, this period will probably lead to deconditioning if high levels of physical activity are not maintained while indoors.
Deconditioning can cause muscle weakness and other health problems. What could be worse than having a large meal followed by lying down on the sofa watching TV and snacking, or even sleeping after having late supper.
Clearly, there is a need for motivation to exercise. Depending on how stringently lockdown measures are enforced, some countries do not allow exercises outdoors during the lockdown period. Understandably, not many will have an exercise bike or treadmill at home, or spacious house or large gardens for exercising. Many houses do not have staircases.
Nevertheless, it is not the end of the world. There are various ways we can employ to make the most of the situation to keep fit and healthy.
Being physically active helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol and can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Any physical activity that increases the heart rate is good for the heart.
Fitness benefits can be gained by performing routine activities even if you are stuck at home. None or very little equipment is required. Even a simple activity like standing (as opposed to lying down) is good to prevent fat accumulation around the abdominal region.
This is important as abdominal obesity is a strong risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Avoid sitting immediately after meals, ideally at least for 20-30 minutes. Washing dishes, tidying the dinner table, ironing clothes or making your bed while standing, provide upper body workout.
If there are stairs at home, walking briskly up and down the stairs is also a useful technique to increase the heart rate and improve blood circulation.
Cleaning our house is an efficient way of burning calories for example vacuuming/hovering, dusting, scrubbing away dirt or washing the car. These are all exercises that can be shared with the whole family.
Other simple forms of exercises that are effective in burning calories are squatting, lunging or heel raising which can be easily done inside the house. Resistance exercises are great for muscles and mobility. These can be done using resistance bands, dumbbells or any heavy objects of your creativity as dumbbell substitutes.
Additional exercise such as dancing is a fun way to keep active, improve blood circulation and mental health. Play your favourite music and get your body moving. It will be awkward initially but it will become an enjoyable experience after a couple of times. Yoga, tai chi or various applications and videos encouraging exercises are available.
In conclusion, it is up to us, during this time of uncertainty, to find creative ways to eat healthily, to remain active and to avoid long-term health implications.
Dr Masliza is lecturer in Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford and Dr Priya is Reading Masters in International Health, University of Oxford
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times