Changes in dietary behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak confinement in the Spanish COVIDiet Study

The COVIDiet Study (2020) utilized social media and snowball sampling to propagate an online questionnaire measuring dietary and socio-demographic data, and evaluated whether eating behaviors changed during the COVID-19 outbreak confinement among a Spanish adult population. A total of 7514 participants (37% aged below 35 years, 70.6% female, 77.9% university-level education or higher) completed the questionnaire, which used the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) Adherence Screener (MEDAS) to define a healthy diet, and determine processed foods intake, alterations in their usual food choices and weight gain. During the confinement, the overall MEDAS score among the population increased significantly from 6.53 ± 2 to 7.34 ± 1.93. Multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for multiple variables also marked a significant shift towards an increase in adherence to the MedDiet. Rodríguez-Pérez and her team (2020) arrived at the conclusion that the studied Spanish population have adopted healthier dietary behaviors/habits under COVID-19 confinement, a change that, if sustained in the long-term, could benefit the nation in its prevention of chronic diseases and COVID-19-related complications. [NPIDs: COVID, coronavirus, pandemic, immunity, the immune system, COVID-19, Spain, Med diet, Mediterranean diet, eating behavior]

Year: 2020

Reference: Rodríguez-Pérez, C., Molina-Montes, E., Verardo, V., Artacho, R., García-Villanova, B., Guerra-Hernández, E. J., & Ruíz-López, M. D. (2020). Changes in Dietary Behaviours during the COVID-19 Outbreak Confinement in the Spanish COVIDiet Study. Nutrients, 12(6), 1730. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061730

Related Studies

Stress and diet quality among Ecuadorian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study

Our dietary habits are influenced by stress. Stress, which was commonly experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, can alter our eating behavior and how we regard and consume hyper-palatable foods. In this cross-sectional study by Abril-Ulloa et al. (2022), the authors investigated the relationship between dietary quality and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a […]

Comparing eating behaviours, and symptoms of depression and anxiety between Spain and Greece during the COVID‐19 outbreak: Cross‐sectional analysis of two different confinement strategies

This 2020 study examined the eating behaviors, and depressive and anxiety symptoms of people in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic and compared the outcomes with the residents of Greece. These two countries have different confinement strategies and infection severities. The method of data collection was a web-based survey, which was completed by 1002 inhabitants of […]