Relationship in dietary habits variations during COVID-19 lockdown in Kosovo: The COVIDiet study

Abstract

Changes in dietary habits and association with lifestyle during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown in the Kosovo population have not been studied yet. Therefore, the intent of the present study was to determine whether if COVID-19 lockdown had any impact in lifestyle, including dietary habits and physical activity (PA) patterns of people from different areas of Kosovo. Dietary habits, PA, body weight and sociodemographic variables were measured through validated online survey started one week after lockdown decision and lasted for next two month (May and June 2020). Six hundred eighty-nine participants (women 79% and men 21%) aged between 20 and 65 years from the Kosovo territory participated in the research. Multivariate models showed that participants in family home residence, participants from Gjilan, participants female and participants with professional educations reported a higher likelihood of turning into a higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) (OR: 6.09, 5.25, 5.17, 4.19, respectively). The weight gained during the lockdown was positively associated with a higher cooking frequency (OR; 2.90, p < 0.01), lower meat and fish consumption (OR; 1.15, p = 0.02; OR; 1.04, p = 0.04, respectively), higher fast-food consumption (OR; 0.49, p = 0.02) and no physical activity performance (OR; 0.43, p = 0.02) during the COVID-19 lockdown. The dietary habits during COVID-19 lockdown could be related to the improvements in adherence to the MedDiet and physical activities that may minimize related health complications.

The Mediating Role of Orthorexia in the Relationship between Physical Activity and Fear of COVID-19 among University Students in Poland

“…Research indicates the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected lifestyle, particularly reducing physical activity and changing eating habits [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Sulejmani et al [20] found that the weight gained during the lockdown in Kosovo was positively associated with a higher cooking frequency, lower meat and fish consumption, higher fast-food consumption, and no physical activity performance. The study results from Iraqi Kurdistan showed that 12.0% of participants reported improvements in lifestyle, whereas 50.9% declared that their lifestyle deteriorated [16].…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted lifestyle, including changes in dietary habits and physical activity (PA) patterns [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Izzo et al [17] found changes in eating habits among 33.5% of respondents (out of which 81% reported an increase in frozen food consumption) and physical activity reduction in 70.5% of the Italian population during the COVID-19 lockdown.…”

The Impact of Nutrition on the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nutrition

“…Exercise in quarantine led to better nutritional choices which in turn had a beneficial effect on mental state as well [ 63 ]. However, it is important to emphasize that exercise frequency has been repeatedly reported to decrease during the pandemic [ 57 , 59 ] The poor nutritional behaviour and lack of exercise have resulted in predictable and unhealthy increases in weight gain during the pandemic [ 64 , 65 ]. These changes in dietary habits have important implications for the health impact of the pandemic.…”

Nutrition Risk, Resilience and Effects of a Brief Education Intervention among Community-Dwelling Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alberta, Canada

“…This is significant because COVID-19-related calls to the Alberta 211 Helpline showed food was one of the top, unmet basic needs of Albertans during the lockdown beginning in March 2020 [ 19 ]. Studies from Europe indicate some improvements in dietary habits (e.g., higher Mediterranean diet score) during lockdown [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ] coupled paradoxically with weight gain, perhaps due in part to enforced physical inactivity and increased snacking [ 20 , 24 ] but these studies had few older adults and did not stratify the results by age. The NutriQuébec study conducted in Canada found a 1.1-point increase in the Healthy Eating Index-2015 in adults, comparing April–May 2020 to June 2019–March 2020.…”