The effects of 12-week home-based exercises program applied during COVID-19 pandemic on depression and body image

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic is unknown on human health; physically and psychologically, including obesity. During the critical period of the pandemic, various security measures were taken (worldwide) such as reducing social activities, limiting the usage of indoor parks, gyms and putting people on house arrests in order to reduce the spread. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between body image and depression through exercise in individuals diagnosed with obesity and with the increase in weight problems that occurred due to the inactivity brought by the pandemic. The study was conducted with 40 female participants with a BMI of 30 and above. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, 20 people being the exercising group and the other 20 being the control group. The study group participated in home exercises with a personal trainer over the zoom program for about one hour three days a week during twelve weeks. No exercise program was applied to the control group. Pillows, chairs and water bottles were used as materials for home exercises. Borg's perceived effort test questionnaire was applied to determine the difficulty level of the exercise. Beck Depression Inventory and Body Image scales were administered to the participants at the beginning and end of the exercise. SPSS 23 package program was used for statistical analysis. When analyzing the data, the t-test in independent groups in 95% confidence interval to examine the differences between the pre-test and post-test of the exercise and control groups, and t-test analysis in the dependent groups to determine the difference between the groups during the pre-tests. In line with the findings we obtained, while a significant difference was found in the pre-test depression (21,55±13,98) and body image (113,65±40,51) scores of the exercise and post-test depression (2,65±3,57) and body image (175,05±23,57) (p<0.05), no significant difference was found in the control group (p>0.05). As a result, it can be said that home exercises accompanied by a sports instructor over the zoom program positively affect depression and body image in obese individuals.