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Lifestyle and eating habits before and during COVID-19 quarantine in Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2021

Tamires CM Souza
Affiliation:
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil
Lívya A Oliveira
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and Health, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
Marina M Daniel
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, Brazil
Lívia G Ferreira
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, Brazil
Ceres M Della Lucia
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and Health, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil
Juliana C Liboredo
Affiliation:
Department of Food, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil
Lucilene R Anastácio*
Affiliation:
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil
*
*Corresponding author: Email lucilene.rezende@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objective:

To assess changes in daily habits, food choices and lifestyle of adult Brazilians before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design:

This observational study was carried out with Brazilian adults through an online questionnaire 5 months after the social distance measures implementation. The McNemar, McNemar–Bowker and Wilcoxon tests were used to investigate differences before and during the COVID pandemic period, adopting the statistical significance of P < 0·05.

Setting:

Brazil.

Participants:

Totally, 1368 volunteers aged 18+ years.

Results:

The volunteers reported a lower frequency of breakfast, morning and lunch snacks (P < 0·05) and a higher frequency of evening snacks and other meal categories during the pandemic period (P < 0·05). The results showed an increase in the consumption of bakery products, instant meals and fast food, while the consumption of vegetables and fruits decreased (P < 0·005). There was a significant increase in the frequency of consumption of alcoholic beverages (P < 0·001), but a reduction in the dose (P < 0·001), increased frequency of smoking (P = 0·007), an increase in sleep and screen time in hours and decrease in physical activity (P < 0·001).

Conclusions:

It was possible to observe an increase in screen time, hours of sleep, smoking and drinking frequency. On the other hand, there was a reduction in the dose of alcoholic beverages but also in the practice of physical activity. Eating habits also changed, reducing the performance of daytime meals and increasing the performance of nighttime meals. The frequency of consumption of instant meals and fast food has increased, while consumption of fruits and vegetables has decreased.

Information

Type
Research paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society
Figure 0

Fig. 1 Study recruitment

Figure 1

Table 1 Participants’ general characteristics (n 1368)

Figure 2

Table 2 Lifestyle habits before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Figure 3

Table 3 Independent factors associated with the lifestyle habits during the pandemic period in Brazil by multiple logistic regression analysis

Figure 4

Fig. 2 Comparisons between meals made by participants before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (n 1368). *McNemar test, respectively: P < 0·001; P < 0·001; P = 0·002; P= 0·003; P < 0·001

Figure 5

Fig. 3 Frequency of food consumption before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (n 1368). *McNemar–Bowker Test. **Wilcoxon

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