Number of meals per day during the COVID-19 in Colombia, poverty and mortality due to nutritional deficiencies and anemias.

Background: During the COVID - 19 pandemic in Colombia in the year 2021, changes have been reported in the number of meals consumed per day in households, which merited an analysis of the relationship between this situation with territorial socioeconomic variables and mortality due to nutritional deficiencies and anemias. Method(s): A multiple-group descriptive study was carried out. Result(s): From the analyses, a moderate negative and significant correlation was identified between the consumption of at least three meals a day and mortality due to nutritional deficiencies and anemias, as well as for a higher level of multidimensional poverty at territorial level. Conclusion(s): Population risk factors were identified, such as higher levels of multidimensional poverty that may lead to the use of survival strategies such as the consumption of fewer meals per day by the population, which may have an impact on higher mortality rates due to nutritional deficiencies and anemias during the COVID- 19 pandemic in Colombia.Copyright © 2022 Sociedad Espanola de Nutricion Comunitaria. All rights reserved.

Cell phone use and relationship with eating behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of cell phones increased due to the confinement that implied more time at home and carrying out virtual activities, this modified some behaviors, among which eating behavior stands out. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between cell phone use patterns and their use during eating episodes. An online survey created on the Google forms platform was sent via email, which was based on the Mobile Phone Problematic Use Scale (MPPUS) and was answered anonymously. Regarding the use of cell phones during meals, 33.1 per cent of the total participants presented this behavior always or almost always and 30.7 per cent sometimes. Problematic cell phone use was higher in the group that was in confinement (5.6 vs 1.8 per cent), being more pronounced in women (p = 0.011). In the group of occasional cell phone users, 2.2 por ciento used it during meals and in the group with problematic use, 80.8 per cent (p < 0.000). People from 29 to 59 years old were the ones who most reported using it at all times of food (65.1 per cent) followed by young people (34.9 per cent). © 2023, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico. All rights reserved.

Physical activity as self-regulating behavior of perceived anxiety and dysfunctional patterns of dietary intake during isolation due to covid-19 among latin americans

Physical activity is considered an anxiety-regulating behavior and is effective in reducing this emotional condition. Due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), governments of Latin America have applied isolation strategies to reduce the probability of contagion and thus control health effects;however, an unfavorable effect of this situation has been the increase in anxiety levels that can affect food intake. The objective of the current study was to analyze the association between physical activity and differences in dysfunctional patterns of intake in Latin American people who were in isolation. A questionnaire was applied to 1.035 people from different countries. We observed that those performing physical activity presented a 50% lower probability of perceived anxiety. Additionally, the subjects who performed physical activity presented greater cognitive restriction, and those who did not perform physical activity registered a higher level of disinhibition and emotional intake. We conclude that physical activity is an anxiety-regulating behavior in this time of isolation or quarantine and has a positive influence on individuals, since it reduces disinhibition and emotional intake, and could prevent weight gain and possible development of food pathologies. This finding is important for the promotion of physical activity in this time of confinement and similar situations, and it is also useful for interventions on subjects with emotional feeding. © 2021, Sociedad Chilena de Nutricion Bromatologia y Toxilogica. All rights reserved.