College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC 20008, USA.
Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.
Nutrients. 2023 Apr 5;15(7):1769. doi: 10.3390/nu15071769.
The quality and quantity of food consumption have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examined how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the consumption of different food groups in order to close the research gap by providing current evidence that reflects a later stage of the pandemic compared to other circulating research conducted at earlier stages. Data collection for this cross-sectional study was performed via an online Qualtrics survey from 10,050 adults aged 40-100 years. Nutritional status was measured using the 24-item short-form Dietary Screening Tool (DST) twice: before and since the COVID-19 pandemic. The DST questions were categorized based on MyPlate items, along with fat, sugar, and sweet items, as well as nutritional supplement intake. In addition, the total DST score was calculated for each participant, which categorized them into one of three groups: "at risk", "possible risk", and "not at risk". The results revealed that the consumption of grains, fruit, lean protein, and dairy decreased significantly, while the consumption of fat, sugar, and sweet items increased significantly due to COVID-19. The biggest decreases in consumption of food subcategories were related to whole grain bread and cereal, followed by fruit as a snack, in comparison with other types of grain and fruit. No changes in the consumption of vegetables, processed meat, or supplement intake were seen. The total DST score showed that, before and since COVID-19, the overall nutrition status of adult Americans has been at risk. In addition, of those participants who were not at risk before COVID-19, 28.5% were either at risk or at possible risk since COVID-19; moreover, of those participants who were at possible risk before COVID-19, 21% were at risk since COVID-19. As a good nutritional status can reduce the risk of severe illness or even mortality rate in times of crisis, the findings of this study can help policymakers and health educators to develop heath-protecting behavior sessions against future pandemics to manage crises.
由于 COVID-19 大流行，食物的质量和数量发生了变化。在这项研究中，我们检查了 COVID-19 大流行如何改变了不同食物组的消费情况，以便通过提供比其他早期阶段进行的研究更能反映大流行后期情况的现有证据来填补研究空白。这项横断面研究的数据收集是通过在线 Qualtrics 调查从 10050 名年龄在 40-100 岁的成年人中进行的。使用 24 项简短饮食筛查工具（DST）两次测量营养状况：COVID-19 大流行之前和之后。DST 问题根据 MyPlate 项目以及脂肪、糖和甜食以及营养补充剂的摄入进行分类。此外，还为每位参与者计算了 DST 总分，将他们分为三组：“有风险”、“可能有风险”和“无风险”。结果表明，由于 COVID-19，谷物、水果、瘦肉蛋白和奶制品的消费显著下降，而脂肪、糖和甜食的消费显著增加。与其他谷物和水果相比，食物亚类消费下降最大的是全麦面包和谷物，其次是水果作为零食。蔬菜、加工肉或补充剂摄入没有变化。DST 总分显示，在 COVID-19 之前和之后，美国成年人的整体营养状况一直处于危险之中。此外，在 COVID-19 之前没有风险的参与者中，有 28.5%的人在 COVID-19 之后处于风险或可能风险之中；此外，在 COVID-19 之前处于可能风险的参与者中，有 21%的人在 COVID-19 之后处于风险之中。由于良好的营养状况可以降低危机时期重病甚至死亡率的风险，因此本研究的结果可以帮助政策制定者和健康教育者制定针对未来大流行的健康保护行为课程，以应对危机。
