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 -