In February, I discussed the broad spectrum of indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual and public health.
These range from impacts on mental health to accessing chronic disease management as well as lower rates of routine childhood vaccinations against other vaccine-preventable infectious illnesses not caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Now, I’d like to focus on one important aspect of the pandemic’s indirect health effects – those involving health-related choices and health behaviors.
There is a wealth of understanding and evidence to support the benefits of healthy choices on our longevity and our quality of life. Choice and behavior have additive and collective effects on our mind and body – things like weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels in the bloodstream, blood sugar control, strength and endurance, and mental well-being – just to name a few. Often these choices involve what activities that we engage in and what types of food and drink we put into our bodies, not to mention with what frequency and in what amounts.
For instance, we might choose to sit on the couch and watch television or we might choose to take a walk. We might choose to enjoy a bowl of oatmeal or we might choose to enjoy a doughnut. We might choose to drink a cocktail or we might choose to drink a glass of water. We might choose to take time for reflection or we might choose to take time to check our email.
None of these things in and of itself is necessarily bad when considered alone. Rather, it is the collection of our choices, those that define our routines and behaviors, that impact our health.
In normal times, behavior change and making consistently good choices can be a challenge, especially when it involves something that we perceive to be a sacrifice. Assuming we know the right choice, it may require willpower and mental energy. If the benefit is not something that we experience immediately, the healthy choice may be undervalued in the present moment.
Yet the disruption imposed on our lives, our routines and our expectations as a result of two years of pandemic-life has strained even our normal abilities to make consistently good choices for our health. The stress of these unusual times has deprived us of the mental energy necessary to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. Meanwhile, the very real impacts on our health and well-being are nebulous and difficult to prioritize when we feel under threat from the coronavirus.
Perhaps, though, the return to “normal” can begin with these day-to-day healthy choices. Perhaps each baby step, whether to decline that next drink, or to take a walk, or to put down the computer and take a few deep breaths with conscious gratitude can build into something bigger, something we can control, a new routine that leads to a healthier self and a healthier future.
Dr. Matthew A. Clark, a board-certified physician in internal medicine and pediatrics, works for the Indian Health Service.
