Covid-19 Confinement and Changes of Adolescent’s Dietary Trends in Italy, Spain, Chile, Colombia and Brazil

The aim of this 2020 study was to analyze how dietary patterns changed during COVID-19 confinement in adolescents aged 10 to 19 years, and to determine variables that may have influenced these alterations. Ruiz-Roso et al. believe that the confinement may affect diet and nutrition, particularly in adolescents who are susceptible to acquiring bad eating habits. Poor dietary habits can then put some people at risk of degenerative diseases such as obesity and diabetes. After collecting the data of 820 adolescents from Spain, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile (through online questionnaires), the COVID-19 confinement was not found to affect dietary habits in this sample. The team of researchers looked at changes in intakes of fried food, sweet food, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between adequate nutrition with gender, family members at home, watching TV during mealtime, country of residence, or maternal education. Better understanding of adolescents’ nutrition behavior during the COVID-19 lockdown would allow public health authorities to be more prepared, on their nutritional recommendations, for another pandemic. [NPIDs: COVID, coronavirus, pandemic, immunity, the immune system, COVID-19, degenerative diseases, obesity, diabetes, TV, maternal education]

Year: 2020

Reference: Ruiz-Roso, M. B., de Carvalho Padilha, P., Mantilla-Escalante, D. C., Ulloa, N., Brun, P., Acevedo-Correa, D., Arantes Ferreira Peres, W., Martorell, M., Aires, M. T., de Oliveira Cardoso, L., Carrasco-Marín, F., Paternina-Sierra, K., Rodriguez-Meza, J. E., Montero, P. M., Bernabè, G., Pauletto, A., Taci, X., Visioli, F., & Dávalos, A. (2020). Covid-19 Confinement and Changes of Adolescent's Dietary Trends in Italy, Spain, Chile, Colombia and Brazil. Nutrients, 12(6), 1807. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061807

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