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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 sample of 2602 adults (68.57% females, 78.52% attained university-level education, median age of 25 years). The participants submitted self-administered online surveys, in addition to having their dietary quality examined using the Global Diet Index (GDI), and evaluation of their stress levels using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14). Analysis of the results revealed that 26.06% of the participants reported experiencing stress during the pandemic, while most of the participants accounted that their diet is unhealthy or could benefit from healthy changes (75.79%). Stress was substantially linked to dietary quality, where increasing levels of stress led to increased dietary derangements, even after adjusting for variables like age, sex, education, people/room ratio, expenses for food, and economic allowance. On the other hand, consuming hyper-palatable foods was not substantially linked to stress. The authors conclude that their results demonstrate the negative relationship between stress and dietary quality, and recommend taking these findings into account concerning public health interventions aimed at lifestyle and mental health enhancement at the population level during periods of pandemic lockdown. [NPID: COVID-19 pandemic, stress, diet quality, palatable foods, Ecuadorian adults]
Year: 2022
