Characterization of food security in Colombian families during confinement by COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Background: Voluntary confinement, and subsequently compulsory quarantine, is a government strategy for containing and mitigating the effects of COVID-19 contagion. The objective was to characterize food security in Colombian families, perception of weight change and lifestyles during social isolation by COVID-19. Methods: cross-sectional study with a descriptive quantitative approach in a non-probabilistic sample, voluntary participant in an electronic access survey. The information was obtained through a structured survey with the Google Forms Drive tool, with three components, sociodemographic, food consumption and level of food safety. The link of the digital survey was socialized in all Colombian regions, during weeks 15, 16 and 17 of the month of April corresponding to the Colombian epidemiological calendar 2020. Univariate and bivariate analysis associated with the axis of food consumption and access was carried out, in the statistical program SPSS v25 and organizing databases in Microsoft Excel. Results: Of the 1,470 surveys applied in 97% of the Colombian territory (31 departments), 76% were completed by women. The average age of the convenience sample was 39 +13 years, the family composition of 48% was more than three members and 60% considered that their weight is normal. 62% considered the purchase of meat a high priority. Generally. It is observed that foods such as dairy products, cereals, fruits-vegetables had a high purchase priority;they did not buy sugary drinks, alcoholic beverages and processed foods;64% do not buy bottled water;35% of the families reported having a lack of money to buy food, while 15.3% reported eating less with their main meals. Conclusions: there was food insecurity due to lack of money and the purchase of food;a change in weight due to weight gain and modifications in lifestyles in terms of the purchase, consumption, hygiene and waste of food and physical activity. © 2020 Sociedad Espanola de Nutricion Comunitaria. All rights reserved.