Changing Food Patterns during the Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Household Dynamics and Income Stabilization Strategies

COVID-19 still looms as the largest risk to the agriculture, energy, and health sectors, threatening sustainable global economic development. The literature shows that the COVID-19 pandemic can divert governments' attention away from climate change, renewable energy, and food security challenges that are necessary to address for sustainable economic growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has consistently influenced environmental behaviors, as it has primarily decreased income levels and disrupted food systems worldwide. This study examined the impacts of COVID-19 on food consumption patterns, food diversity, and income challenges and explored the factors affecting food consumption patterns during the pandemic. The data collected through an online survey from 1537 Chinese households were analyzed through a paired t-test, a mixed-design ANOVA, and a logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that the consumption of the majority of individual food commodities decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the individual food items, the consumption of pork witnessed the greatest decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the normal period. The decrease in food diversity was higher for the households whose income was affected compared to the households whose income was not affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the consumption quantities of various food groups declined more for highly income-affected households than for medium and slightly affected households during the pandemic. Households that adopted a dissaving income-stabilizing strategy were 47% points more likely to maintain their food consumption patterns during the pandemic. Farmers were 17% points and 19% points less likely to suffer worsened food consumption compared to self-employed and wage workers, respectively, during the pandemic. Thus, self-production methods such as kitchen gardening can assist households to maintain and improve their consumption of food commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 by the authors.

Food waste perceptions and reported behaviours during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina

An increasing corpus of data demonstrated the disruptive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption habits, particularly food waste, but the Balkan area is often overlooked. Accordingly, this study investigates the immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer knowledge and reported behaviours linked to food waste in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research was based on an online survey with 2425 participants using the Google forms platform from 10 April to 10 May 2020. This period coincided with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Consumers' behaviours regarding where and how often they buy food, their attitude towards food labels, food provision and particularly the amounts and values of food waste and how they handle it were investigated. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics methods, and the significance of the association between variables was determined using nonparametric and multivariate statistical tests. The study's findings revealed that (i) Bosnia has a low rate of household food waste and a favourable attitude towards food waste prevention, (ii) the majority of the respondents are familiar with the most common expiry labels, notably ‘use by' and ‘best before' and (iii) consumers adjusted their buying and consumption patterns due to the pandemic. The findings of this research are essential for developing evidence-based policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the post-pandemic recovery period since they are unique to that country. Indeed, the crisis' lessons and insights may be used to help move towards more sustainable consumption habits. © The Author(s) 2022.

Association between time of exposure to screens and food consumption of children aged 2 to 9 years during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To identify and map families' time of exposure to screens during the COVID-19 pandemic and to associate it with the frequency of children's food consumption. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out with parents or guardians of children aged between 2 and 9 years through an online questionnaire. The participants answered questions about socioeconomic data, family's screen habits, and children's food consumption. Results: A total of 517 parents or guardians participated in the research. Children's median age when first exposed to screens was 6 months (interquartile range: 1–12 months). The average number of hours that children and guardians/parents were exposed to electronic devices was 3.9±2.3 and 9.0±2.9 respectively. As for food consumption, 60.9% of the guardians/parents and 54.3% of the children had the habit of having meals in front of screens. In addition, the consumption of snacks outside mealtimes, while using screens, was frequent in both groups. Conclusions: Children aged 2 to 9 years are excessively exposed to screens and the consumption of meals or snacks while using the devices is frequent. Considering the current demands of the pandemic, the necessity of using electronic devices is understandable. However, the authors emphasize the importance to educate families regarding limiting the use of screens, especially during meals, and monitoring the content of activities with electronic devices, as this exposure can influence food consumption and affect children's nutritional status and health. © 2022 Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo.

Measuring consumption over the phone: Evidence from a survey experiment in urban Ethiopia.

The paucity of reliable, timely household consumption data in many low- and middle-income countries have made it difficult to assess how global poverty has evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Standard poverty measurement requires collecting household consumption data, which is rarely collected by phone. To test the feasibility of collecting consumption data over the phone, we conducted a survey experiment in urban Ethiopia, randomly assigning households to either phone or in-person interviews. In the phone survey, average per capita consumption is 23 percent lower and the estimated poverty headcount is twice as high than in the in-person survey. We observe evidence of survey fatigue occurring early in phone interviews but not in in-person interviews; the bias is correlated with household characteristics. While the phone survey mode provides comparable estimates when measuring diet-based food security, it is not amenable to measuring consumption using the 'best practice' approach originally devised for in-person surveys.

Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Choice Motives: A Systematic Review

The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has effected the global economy, with the main changes expected to affect human life in the future, including food consumption. However, could this pandemic be assumed as a threshold for the suspension of the usual rules behind food choices? This review highlights the changes in food choice motivations before, during, and after the pandemic that have been reported in the literature to date to answer the research question on the changes in food choice motives caused by the pandemic to consumers worldwide. The review comes up with ten key food motives important for consumers, namely health, convenience, sensory appeal, nutritional quality, moral concerns, weight control, mood and anxiety, familiarity, price, and shopping frequency behavior;these motives continue to be significant in the post-pandemic era. Our findings indicate that it is too premature to give definite answers as to what food choice motives in the post-COVID-19 era will be like. Consumers' perceptions and attitudes toward food in the new era are contradictory, depending on the country of the study, the average age, and the sex of the study group. These controversial results illustrate that, for food consumption, motives depend on the population being searched, with changes identified occurring in two directions. The definite answers will be given in three to five years when the new conditions will be clear and a number of studies will have been published. Even though it is too early to fully understand the definite food choice motive changes, defining a "new" index of consumer satisfaction is necessary since it can alter the food sale strategies of retail managers, food companies, and the other parties involved in the agri-food chain.

The Effect of COVID-19 on Food Consumption and Security

Agricultural and food markets were affected by the disruptions created by the restrictions on the mobility of people especially during the first lockdown in Zimbabwe from March 2020 to August 2020 and the subsequent localised lockdowns carried out in Zimbabwe. This resulted in loss of income among farmers and reduced food availability in towns. The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of Covid-19 on food security and consumption in Zimbabwe targeting Masvingo and Harare Provinces. Food consumption and security were measured using the rapid assessment method. The study used a questionnaire to obtain data on the food security and consumption from 489 respondents. The questionnaire was administered face to face. The results revealed that COVID-19 directly reduced access to food of the respondents in Harare and Masvingo province. Food insecurity in Harare and Masvingo province increased hence the need for policy makers and the donor community to assist the vulnerable people in Zimbabwe as a result of the pandemic to avoid food crisis. Results from Multinomial Logistic Regression Model established that households which are involved in informal trading and those that depend on labour income were more vulnerable resulting in reduced food consumption due to COVID-19 pandemic compared to other respondent categories. These results imply that government should prioritise households which depend on informal trading and those relying on labour income when providing safety nets during pandemics in Zimbabwe © 2022 AJHTL /Author(s)

Food delivery before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Purpose>This study aims to understand consumer behavior related to the purchase of meals by delivery services before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Brazil.Design/methodology/approach>An online survey was conducted between September and October 2020. The total number of valid responses was 971.Findings>About 55% of the participants reported a decrease in consumption or not having consumed food delivery during the pandemic. Of the total, 48.3% feared contracting COVID-19 from food delivery. A significant association was observed between fear of contracting COVID-19 from food delivery and variables such as education level (p = 0.001), observance of social distancing (p = 0.03) and food delivery consumption frequency (p < 0.001). More people were careful about cleaning food packaging (from 12.4% before to 66.1% during the pandemic, p < 0.001) and disposal (from 47.6% before to 66.4% during the pandemic, p < 0.001) and heating the food before consumption (from 7.6% before to 13.7% during the pandemic, p < 0.001) and used payment methods without approximation (from 29.8% before to 43.2% during the pandemic, p < 0.001) compared with the pre-pandemic period. More people also reported that application of security protocols during delivery (from 29.8% before to 43.2% during the pandemic, p < 0.001) and in restaurants (from 7.2% before to 25% during the pandemic, p < 0.001) and possessing knowledge about the financial difficulty of the establishment (from 4.6% before to 17% during the pandemic, p < 0.001) were the most important factors for choosing a food service.Originality/value>To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore consumers' fear of contracting COVID-19 from food delivery and consumer behavior related to food delivery services during the pandemic in Brazil – that is, way to order and payment methods, as well as concern and care related to the purchase of these foods.

Food literacy as a resilience factor in response to health-related uncertainty

PurposeDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, people were deprived of their freedom, unable to engage in physical and social activities, and worried about their health. Uncertainty, insecurity, and confinement are all factors that may induce stress, uneasiness, fear, and depression. In this context, this study aims to identify possible relationships of emotions caused by health risks and restrictions to outdoor activities with well-informed decisions about food consumption.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical framework of this research draws on the stimulus-organism-response paradigm yielding six research hypotheses. An online survey was designated to test these hypotheses. A total of 1,298 responses were gathered from Italy, Greece, and the United Kingdom. Data analyses include demographic group comparisons, moderation, and multiple regression tests.FindingsThe results showed that when people miss their usual activities (including freedom of movement, social contact, travelling, personal care services, leisure activities, and eating at restaurants) and worry about their health and the health of their families, they turn to safer food choices of higher quality, dedicating more of their time and resources to cooking and eating.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings showcase how risk-based thinking is critical for management and marketing strategies. Academics and practitioners may rely on these findings to include extreme conditions within their scope, understanding food literacy as a resilience factor to cope with health risks and stimulated emotions.Originality/valueThis study identified food behavioural patterns under risk-laden conditions. A health risk acted as an opportunity to look at food consumption as a means of resilience.

Antecedents of obesity among Indian youth: from consumer psychological and lifestyle perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the antecedents of obesity among the younger generation of Indians (Generation Y) from a psychological and lifestyle consumer perspective. The study also investigates the moderating role of demography on the body mass index (BMI) of Indian youths.Design/methodology/approachThe study initially develops a conceptual model, stemming from an extensive theoretical research, and subsequently validates this using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique with a sample size of 1,242 Indian youths.FindingsThe study concludes that consumers' food habits (FH) and physical activity (PA) positively impact consumers' physical health (PH), which influences their BMI levels (BLs). Anxiety (AX), depression (DE), stress (ST), peer pressure (PP) and work pressure (WP) impact individuals' mental health (MH), which also influences their BLs. Finally, there is a significant moderating impact of demographic factors, such as age (AG), gender (GE) and income levels (ILs) on the relationship between individuals' physical and MH and individuals' BLs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study proposes a new model which highlights the issue of youth consumer obesity from the psychological and lifestyle perspectives. The model is effective as it has a high explanative power of 73%. The study investigates consumer obesity from emerging market like India perspective, but the study does not examine consumer food consumption behavior and obesity from developed market perspective.Practical implicationsYouth obesity could be considered a global pandemic, and obesity rates among the Indian youth are also increasing. This study provides valuable inputs and understanding of consumer markets to policy makers, consumer protection institutions, organizations related to the food and beverage industry, healthcare workers and consumers themselves regarding the antecedents of youth obesity (BL) in developing and emerging markets.Originality/valueThe study adds value to the body of literature related to consumer obesity, FH, consumer psychology and lifestyle through findings that are new in terms of findings' specificity, contextual focus and explication. Moreover, the study extends the cognitive theory of DE and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The research effectively offers significant theoretical and practicable market knowledge to both scholars and marketing practitioners, as well as policy makers and institutions dealing with youth obesity, particularly in emerging markets.

Excessive Food Buying in Saudi Arabia Amid COVID-19: Examining the Effects of Perceived Severity, Religiosity, Consumption Culture and Attitude toward Behavior.

The current study builds on both the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to examine why consumers in Saudi Arabia engage in excessive food-buying behavior amid COVID-19. The study tests the direct impact of food consumption culture, perceived severity of COVID-19, and religiosity on excessive food-buying intentions and the indirect effect through attitudes toward excessive food buying. The results of the inner model using SmartPLS4 showed that the perceived severity of COVID-19 has a direct significant positive effect on attitudes toward excessive food buying and excessive food-buying intention. Despite food consumption culture being found to have no direct significant effect on excessive food-buying intention during the pandemic, it has a direct effect on attitudes toward excessive food buying. Surprisingly, religiosity was found to have a positive effect on consumers' attitudes and excessive food-buying intentions. The results confirm that consumers misunderstood Islamic religious principles regarding food consumption, which does not accept excessive buying or food waste. Attitudes toward excessive food buying were found to mediate the relationship between food consumption culture, perceived severity of COVID-19, religiosity, and excessive food-buying intention. The results of the study are discussed and implications are highlighted for academics and policymakers.

Influences on change in expected and actual health behaviors among first-year university students.

Background: First-year students often adopt health risk behaviors during their first semester such as increased consumption of unhealthy food, decreased physical activity, and increased alcohol use. Expectations, social tie's efforts to motivate behavior, and coresidence with parents can influence said behaviors. Aims: We assessed how students' health behaviors and expectations change over the first semester, and how the aforementioned factors influence the maintenance or change of behavior and expectations. Methods: A longitudinal survey design was implemented. A total of N = 163 German first-year students (81% female; 18% male; 1% non-binary; M age = 21.20, SD = 2.66) completed online questionnaires, including the NCHRBS and AUDIT, during the Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning (November 2020) and after the end (May 2021) of their first semester. Results: Current and expected food consumption and physical activity became healthier over time. The current and expected number of drinks consumed per month increased. Change in expectations for physical activity, number of drinks and binge drinking were predicted by the initial respective behavior. The number of drinks and expected physical activity became unhealthier in relation to reported initial parental influence to drink and to be physically inactive. Moving out of the parental home predicted an increase in current and expected number of drinks and in current and expected binge drinking. These effects of moving out were not mediated by perceived parental or peer influence. Conclusions: Interventions should target these behaviors and expectations during the first semester and address parental influence on physical activity and alcohol use.

Food price volatility and socio-economic inequalities in poor food consumption status during coronavirus disease-2019 lockdown among slum and non-slum households in urban Nansana municipality, Uganda.

BACKGROUND: This study assessed staple food price volatility, household food consumption scores (FCS), poor household food consumption status and its association with socio-economic inequalities during enforcing and partial lifting of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions in slum and non-slum households (HHs) of Nansana municipality, Uganda. METHODS: Repeated cross-sectional surveys were conducted during enforcing and partial lifting of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. A total of 205 slum and 200 non-slum HHs were selected for the study. Telephone based interviews with HH heads were used to collect data on socio-economic factors. Data for FCS was collected using the World Food Programme FCS method. Prices for staple foods were collected by face-to-face interviews with food vendors from the local market. Mean staple food price differences before COVID-19 lockdown, during enforcing, and partial lifting of lockdown was tested by Analysis of variance with repeated measures. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between socio-economic variables and poor food consumption status. A statistical test was considered significant at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Mean staple food prices were significantly higher during enforcing COVID-19 total lockdown restrictions compared to either 1 week before lockdown or partial lifting of lockdown (p < 0.05). Mean FCS for staple cereals and legumes were significantly higher in slum HHs during COVID-19 lockdown compared to when the lockdown was partially lifted (p < 0.05). In slum HHs, the prevalence of poor food consumption status was significantly higher during partial lifting (55.1%) compared to total lockdown of COVID-19 (15.1%), p < 0.05. Among slum HHs during lockdown restrictions, food aid distribution was negatively associated with poor food consumption status (AOR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1-0.6), whilst being a daily wage earner was positively associated with poor food consumption status (AOR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.1-0.6). During partial lifting of COVID-19 lockdown in slum HHs, poor food consumption status was positively associated with female headed HHs (AOR: 1.2, 95%CI: 1.1-1.6), daily wage earners (AOR: 3.2, 95% CI: 2.6-3.8), unemployment (AOR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.5-2.1) and tenants (AOR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.8-3.5). Female headed HHs, daily wage earners and tenants were positively associated with poor food consumption status either during enforcing or partial lifting of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in non-slum HHs. CONCLUSION: Staple food prices increased during enforcing either the COVID-19 lockdown or partial lifting of the lockdown compared to before the lockdown. During the lockdown, food consumption improved in slum HHs that received food aid compared to those slum HHs that did not receive it. Household heads who were females, daily wage earners, unemployed, and tenants were at risk of poor food consumption status either in slum or non-slum, and therefore needed some form of food assistance either during enforcing or partial lifting of the lockdown.

How does risk perception of the COVID-19 pandemic affect the consumption behavior of green food?

Attention to health is on the rise with the global pandemic of COVID-19, especially in food security. Green food is viewed as a healthy, safe, and nutritious food, which plays a significant role in enhancing immunity. This study aimed to investigate how risk perception affects the consumption behavior of green food. Risk perception and health awareness were added to the original model based on the extended theory of planned behavior. And an online survey about the influence of COVID-19 on consumers' green food consumption behavior was conducted with 612 valid respondents recruited. The results indicate that risk perception has a positive effect on both consumption intention and behavior. The mediating effect analysis shows that risk perception influences green food consumption intention by improving people's attitudes, subjective norms, and health awareness. These findings can not only help clarify the relationship between green food consumption behavior and the risk perception of COVID-19 but also provide some valuable implications for policymakers and marketers in promoting green food.

Bodyweight change and its association with food and beverage consumption at the beginning COVID-19 confinement.

OBJECTIVES: SARS-CoV-2, a newly identified coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has challenged health services and profoundly impacted people's lifestyles. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption patterns and body weight in adults from 12 Ibero-American countries. METHODS: Multicentric, cross-sectional study. Data was collected using an online survey disseminated by social networks. The sample included 10 552 people from Spain and 11 Latin American countries who were selected by snowball sampling. RESULTS: While 38.50% of the sample reported weight gain, 16.90% reported weight lost. Weight change was associated with sex, age, country of residence, and education level. People who were not confined more often reported having maintained their weight in comparison to people who were confined. All Latin American countries showed an increased consumption of sweetened drinks, pastry products, fried foods, and alcoholic beverages during confinement. Consumption of eggs and dairy products was independent from body weight change. People who consumed more fruits and vegetables during confinement more often reported having lost weight. In contrast, body weight gain during confinement was associated with increased intake of sugary drinks, baked goods and pastries, pizza, fried foods, and alcoholic beverages. CONCLUSION: During COVID-19 confinement, the Latin American countries included in this study showed a change in their consumption patterns toward less healthy diets, which in turn was associated with an increase in the body weight of their population.