Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children's Sugary Drink Consumption: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused striking alterations to daily life, with important impacts on children's health. Spending more time at home and out of school due to COVID-19 related closures may exacerbate obesogenic behaviors among children, including consumption of sugary drinks (SDs). This qualitative study aimed to investigate effects of the pandemic on children's SD consumption and related dietary behaviors. Children 8–14 years old and their parent (n = 19 dyads) participated in an in-depth qualitative interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and independently coded by two coders, after which, emergent themes and subthemes were identified and representative quotations selected. Although increases in children's SD and snack intake were almost unanimously reported by both children and their parents, increased frequency of cooking at home and preparation of healthier meals were also described. Key reasons for children's higher SD and snack intake were having unlimited access to SDs and snacks and experiencing boredom while at home. Parents also explained that the pandemic impacted their oversight of the child's SD intake, as many parents described loosening prior restrictions on their child's SD intake and/or allowing their child more autonomy to make their own dietary choices during the pandemic. These results call attention to concerning increases in children's SD and snack intake during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intervention strategies to improve the home food environment, including reducing the availability of SDs and energy-dense snacks and providing education on non-food related coping strategies are needed.

Systematic Literature Review on Parental Perspectives of the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food-Related Behaviors

“…General trends in meal planning and grocery shopping behaviors during the pandemic were adoption of meal planning skills (Menon et al 2022;Radwan, Radwan, and Radwan 2021;Spyreli et al 2021), shopping less often (Ferrante et al 2021;Spyreli et al 2021), observing prices going up (Spyreli et al 2021), shortage of food items (Menon et al 2022;Sylvetsky et al 2022), need to provide a nutritious diet for health (Spyreli et al 2021;Philippe et al 2021;Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022), and shift towards home food deliveries (Ferrante et al 2021;Menon et al 2022;Spyreli et al 2021). Four studies did not report on this aspect of food-related parental perspectives (Benson et al 2022;Nanayakkara et al 2022;Jansen et al 2021;Adams et al 2020).…”

“…Negative changes included stockpiling shelf stable foods due to grocery shortages (Sylvetsky et al 2022) and to minimise social exposure (Farello et al 2022); this included bulk (Menon et al 2022) and panic buying (Farello et al 2022), and purchasing more SDs and snacks due to the whole family being at home (Sylvetsky et al 2022). Others were critical of bulk buying (Spyreli et al 2021) or appreciated choices of more fresh, seasonal, and local foods (Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022), the latter which was often related to an increased choice of fruits and vegetables (Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022).…”

“…These positive trends were reported in all the studies and no negative changes were observed. Moreover, parents made healthier choices as a result of not being "on the go" (Sylvetsky et al 2022), including making more meals from scratch (Carroll et al 2020) and experimenting in the kitchen (Menon et al 2022; Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022). Cooking with the child was a pleasurable activity (Nanayakkara et al 2022;Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022) and the occasion to educate about food, to pass on certain cooking skills and values around food, and to taste new flavors (Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022); additionally, as part of meal preparation routine, parents also involved their children in gardening together (Nanayakkara et al 2022;Radwan, Radwan, and Radwan 2021).…”

“…Many positive changes in feeding and eating practices were observed during the lockdown, including increased consumption of hot and home-cooked lunches (Nanayakkara et al 2022;Radwan, Radwan, and Radwan 2021), and greater concern for health and immunity starting to impact food choices (Menon et al 2022); consequently, lunch quality also improved, including increased variety, more elaborate and complex meals, and healthier meals (Nanayakkara et al 2022;Radwan, Radwan, and Radwan 2021). Moreover, eating at a calm pace had positive consequences for the meal atmosphere at home and on children's eating behaviors (Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022), and being home together made some parents more aware of their children's SD consumption and/or help them to control it (Sylvetsky et al 2022). Some parents also described their children had more interest in and accepted certain foods more easily when they had helped to prepare them (Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022).…”

“…Some parents also described their children had more interest in and accepted certain foods more easily when they had helped to prepare them (Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022). On the other hand, changes in children's daily routines during the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impacts on their eating behavior, such as overeating and eating frequency (Dou et al 2021;Carroll et al 2020;Menon et al 2022;Philippe et al 2021), increased intake of sugary drinks (SDs) (Sylvetsky et al 2022) and snacks (Sylvetsky et al 2022;Jansen et al 2021;Farello et al 2022; Philippe, Issanchou, and Monnery-Patris 2022), and emotional eating (Spyreli et al 2021;Philippe et al 2021); one study also reported that children were skipping breakfast when attending school virtually (Sylvetsky et al 2022). Moreover, these negative changes in nutrition were accompanied by more flexible and lenient parenting style, which further facilitated unhealthy eating in children (Sylvetsky et al 2022;Jansen et al 2021;Spyreli et al 2021;Philippe et al 2021).…”