Impacts of lockdown on dietary patterns among youths in China: the COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey

Abstract

Objective: To assess changes in dietary patterns among youths in China after COVID-19 lockdown. Design: This study was based on the COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey (COINLICS), a national retrospective survey established in early May 2020. The questionnaire was distributed through social media platforms. The sociodemographic information and routine dietary patterns before and after lockdown of participants were investigated. t tests and χ2 tests were used to compare the differences in consumption patterns of twelve major food groups and beverages between sex and across educational levels before and after lockdown. Factor analysis was employed to obtain the main dietary patterns. Settings: China. Participants: A total of 10 082 youths. Results: A significant decrease was observed in the average weekly frequency of rice intake, while significant increases were observed in the frequency of intake of wheat products, other staple foods, fish, eggs, fresh vegetables, preserved vegetables, fresh fruit and dairy products (all P values < 0·01). Heterogeneities of average weekly frequency existed between sex and across educational levels to different extents. The three main dietary patterns derived were loaded most heavily on dairy products, rice and wheat products, separately; the rice pattern became more dominant than the wheat products pattern after lockdown. The frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption had decreased, while the frequency of other beverages had increased. Conclusions: Our timely survey would inform policymakers and health professionals of these significant changes in youths’ dietary patterns after lockdown, with heterogeneities observed to different extents between sex and across educational levels, for better policy-making and public health practice.

Eating Behaviour Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

“…The twenty-three longitudinal studies included the following countries: India [ 26 ], Australia [ 27 , 28 ], Spain [ 29 , 30 ], Italy [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], Brazil [ 36 ], France [ 37 ], China [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], the United States [ 42 ], Canada [ 43 ], Poland [ 44 ], the United Kingdom [ 45 , 46 ] and Japan [ 47 , 48 ].…”

Social Capital Changes After COVID-19 Lockdown Among Youths in China: COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey (COINLICS)

“…First, since our study measures a before and after scenario by asking about the "before" retrospectively and the social capital data are self-reported, there may be recall and reporting bias; particularly, this recall was made during a traumatic ongoing event, which may further skew the perception of all levels of social capital (e.g., being underperceived) due to negative or depressive emotion during the long-lasting pandemic. However, the self-assessment of social capital at two time points might reflect their perceived changes which are usually closely correlated with their actual changes (16,25,26). Second, we only measured two time points in this study, thus were not able to track the dynamic trends of social capital during the whole period (27).…”

Changes in patterns of take-away food ordering among youths before and after COVID-19 lockdown in China: the COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey (COINLICS)

“…First, food ordering patterns before COVID-19 were retrospectively collected from the online questionnaire, thus there may be recall biases and also underreporting issues possibly occurring in self-reported dietary data. Also, although placing a pair of questions for the two time points next to each other has been considered easier for participants to recall and differentiate [ 8 , 9 ], some may argue that such arrangements might encourage participants to consider differences between the two time periods rather than reporting behaviour during the two time periods separately and in a random order, which is expected to be tested in more future efforts. In addition, this section of the questionnaire was self-devised for the first time (to the best knowledge of the authors) to capture food ordering information in a promptly accumulated sample in the context of public health emergencies, so could not have been validated.…”

“…The food ordering pattern was restricted to self-eating orders of take-away food, without considering orders for family members or others. Participants were first asked about their average weekly frequency of online food ordering, then the time of food ordering, and lastly the main types of food ordered frequently; in each aspect, a pair of questions for the two time points (before and after the lockdown period) were placed next to each other for participants to better recall and compare [ 8 , 9 ]. The average weekly frequency of online food ordering was categorized into “daily”, “4–6 days per week”, “1–3 days per week”, and “less than 1 day per week or none”.…”