TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of COVID-19 confinement on eating behaviours across 16 European countries
T2 - The COVIDiet cross-national study
AU - Molina-Montes, Esther
AU - Uzhova, Irina
AU - Verardo, Vito
AU - Artacho, Reyes
AU - García-Villanova, Belén
AU - Guerra-Hernández, Eduardo Jesús
AU - Kapsokefalou, Maria
AU - Malisova, Olga
AU - Vlassopoulos, Antonis
AU - Katidi, Alexandra
AU - Seljak, Barbara Koroušić
AU - Modic, Robert
AU - Eftimov, Tome
AU - Hren, Irena
AU - Valenčič, Eva
AU - Šatalić, Zvonimir
AU - Krbavčić, Ines Panjkota
AU - Bender, Darija Vranešić
AU - Giacalone, Davide
AU - Frøst, Michael Bom
AU - Ristic, Aleksandra Konic
AU - Milesevic, Jelena
AU - Nikolic, Marina
AU - Kolay, Ezgi
AU - Güney, Merve
AU - Kriaucioniene, Vilma
AU - Czlapka-Matyasik, Magdalena
AU - Bykowska-Derda, Aleksandra
AU - Kujundzic, Enisa
AU - Taljić, Irzada
AU - Brka, Muhamed
AU - Spiroski, Igor
AU - Velho, Sérgio Cunha
AU - Pinto, Sofia Patrícia Sousa
AU - Monteiro, Inês Nascimento
AU - Pereira, Janice Adriana
AU - Ruíz-López, María Dolores
AU - Rodríguez-Pérez, Celia
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - We aimed to evaluate the changes in eating behaviours of the adult population across 16 European countries due to the COVID-19 confinement and to evaluate whether these changes were somehow related to the severity of the containment measures applied in each country. An anonymous online self-reported questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, validated 14-items Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) Adherence Screener (MEDAS) as a reference of a healthy diet, eating and lifestyle behaviours prior to and during the COVID-19 confinement was used to collect data. The study included an adult population residing in 16 European countries at the time of the survey. Aggregated Stringency Index (SI) score, based on data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, was calculated for each country at the time the questionnaire was distributed (range: 0–100). A total of 36,185 participants completed the questionnaire (77.6% female, 75.2% with high educational level and 42.7% aged between 21 and 35 years). In comparison to pre-confinement, a significantly higher adherence to the MedDiet during the confinement was observed across all countries (overall MEDAS score prior to- and during confinement: 5.23 ± 2.06 vs. 6.15 ± 2.06; p < 0.001), with the largest increase seen in Greece and North Macedonia. The highest adherence to MedDiet during confinement was found in Spain and Portugal (7.18 ± 1.84 and 7.34 ± 1.95, respectively). Stricter contingency restrictions seemed to lead to a significantly higher increase in the adherence to the MedDiet. The findings from this cross-sectional study could be used to inform current diet-related public health guidelines to ensure optimal nutrition is followed among the population, which in turn would help to alleviate the current public health crisis.
AB - We aimed to evaluate the changes in eating behaviours of the adult population across 16 European countries due to the COVID-19 confinement and to evaluate whether these changes were somehow related to the severity of the containment measures applied in each country. An anonymous online self-reported questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, validated 14-items Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) Adherence Screener (MEDAS) as a reference of a healthy diet, eating and lifestyle behaviours prior to and during the COVID-19 confinement was used to collect data. The study included an adult population residing in 16 European countries at the time of the survey. Aggregated Stringency Index (SI) score, based on data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, was calculated for each country at the time the questionnaire was distributed (range: 0–100). A total of 36,185 participants completed the questionnaire (77.6% female, 75.2% with high educational level and 42.7% aged between 21 and 35 years). In comparison to pre-confinement, a significantly higher adherence to the MedDiet during the confinement was observed across all countries (overall MEDAS score prior to- and during confinement: 5.23 ± 2.06 vs. 6.15 ± 2.06; p < 0.001), with the largest increase seen in Greece and North Macedonia. The highest adherence to MedDiet during confinement was found in Spain and Portugal (7.18 ± 1.84 and 7.34 ± 1.95, respectively). Stricter contingency restrictions seemed to lead to a significantly higher increase in the adherence to the MedDiet. The findings from this cross-sectional study could be used to inform current diet-related public health guidelines to ensure optimal nutrition is followed among the population, which in turn would help to alleviate the current public health crisis.
KW - COVID-19 confinement
KW - Eating behaviours
KW - Mediterranean diet
KW - Nutritional survey
KW - Stringency index
U2 - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104231
DO - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104231
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85103785715
VL - 93
JO - Food Quality and Preference
JF - Food Quality and Preference
SN - 0950-3293
M1 - 104231
ER -