Subject: COVID-19
Subject: confinement
Subject: eating behaviours
Subject: Mediterranean diet
Subject: stringency index
Subject: nutritional survey
Year: 2021
Type: Article
Title: Impact of COVID-19 confinement on eating behaviours across 16 European countries: the COVIDiet cross-national study
Author: Molina-Montes, Esther
Author: Uzhova, Irina
Author: Verardo, Vito
Author: Artacho, Reyes
Author: García-Villanova, Belén
Author: Jesús Guerra-Hernández, Eduardo
Author: Kapsokefalou, Maria
Author: Malisova, Olga
Author: Vlassopoulos, Antonis
Author: Katidi, Alexandra
Author: Koroušić Seljak, Barbara
Author: Modic, Robert
Author: Eftimov, Tome
Author: Hren, Irena
Author: Valenčič, Eva
Author: Šatalić, Zvonimir
Author: Panjkota Krbavčić, Ines
Author: Vranešić Bender, Darija
Author: Giacalone, Davide
Author: Bom Frøst, Michael
Author: Konic Ristic, Aleksandra
Author: Milesevic, Jelena
Author: Nikolic, Marina
Author: Kolay, Ezgi
Author: Güney, Merve
Author: Kriaucioniene, Vilma
Author: Czlapka-Matyasik, Magdalena
Author: Bykowska-Derda, Aleksandra
Author: Kujundzic, Enisa
Author: Taljić, Irzada
Author: Brka, Muhamed
Author: Spiroski, Igor
Author: Cunha Velho, Sérgio
Author: Patrícia Sousa Pinto, Sofia
Author: Nascimento Monteiro, Inês
Author: Adriana Pereira, Janice
Author: Dolores Ruíz-López, María
Author: Rodríguez-Pérez, Celia
Abstract: 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 selfreported 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 crosssectional 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.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Relation: Food Quality and Preference
Identifier: oai:repository.ukim.mk:20.500.12188/11505
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12188/11505Identifier: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104231
Identifier: https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0950329321000586?httpAccept=text/xmlIdentifier: https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0950329321000586?httpAccept=text/plain
