Adult eating behavior at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Difficulties in accessing food and social distancing triggered more anxiety, stress and consumption of low-cost and ultra-processed foods. Objective(s) To investigate changes in eating behavior and its relationship with socioeconomic aspects. Method(s) Study conducted virtually between May and June 2020 with 949 adults, with questionnaires on socioeconomic data, changes in eating behavior, frequency of food consumption and the TFEQ-21. The analysis was performed descriptively and the TFEQ-21 according to the scores of each factor. The relationship between the variableswas analyzed using Pearson's correlation test. Result(s) 63% considered cooking more food, 41% and 38% said they were more likely to eat with company and in peace, respectively. 38.6% reduced fast-food purchases, but 43.2% increased food consumption and 41.8% consumption of sweets. In women, the higher the BMI, the greater the emotional eating and cognitive restriction (p<0.001). In these, emotional eating was greater if they did not have children or higher education (p<0.001), and the restriction was greater with physical activity, not having a stable relationship, having children (p<0.001), employment and higher education (p<0.05). In men, emotional eating was related to higher BMI (p<0.05) and both variables were related to physical activity (p<0.001). Conclusion(s) Changes such as cooking more, reducing fast food, eating calmly and with company were observed compared to before the pandemic. It is noted that in women there is a greater relationship between restriction and emotional eating with various aspects of the social and economic context.Copyright © 2023 Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto - U.S.P.. All rights reserved.