McCormack Jessica C, Peng Mei
Sensory Neuroscience and Nutrition Lab, Department of Food Science, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Riddet Institute, Palmerston North 4410, New Zealand.
Foods. 2024 Mar 15;13(6):889. doi: 10.3390/foods13060889.
Extensive research suggests that COVID-19 infection can lead to persistent changes in taste and smell perception. These sensory changes have the potential to exert lasting impacts on dietary choices, nutrition, and body weight. This study aims to explore COVID-related shifts in dietary intake among New Zealand university students. We conducted a survey involving 340 university students who had experienced COVID-19 infection between 2022 and 2023. Participants reported any changes in eating behavior since before the pandemic and were asked to complete a 24-h food record. Participants' total daily energy intake, macronutrient intake, and composition were then compared with data collected from a similar cohort before the COVID-19 pandemic, spanning from 2017 to 2019. Dietary outcomes were compared using MANCOVA while controlling for individual age, gender, ethnicity, and BMI. Approximately 25% of participants reported experiencing sensory alterations with COVID-19, with those participants more likely to report changes in their experience of sweet tastes but not salty or fatty foods. Analyses of the pre- and post-COVID cohorts revealed that participants in the post-COVID group exhibited significantly higher consumption of protein and sodium. Understanding the long-term impact of COVID-19 infection may offer crucial insights into the role of chemosensory perception in dietary behavior.
大量研究表明，感染新冠病毒可导致味觉和嗅觉感知的持续变化。这些感官变化有可能对饮食选择、营养和体重产生持久影响。本研究旨在探讨新西兰大学生中与新冠相关的饮食摄入量变化。我们对340名在2022年至2023年期间感染过新冠病毒的大学生进行了一项调查。参与者报告了自疫情前以来饮食行为的任何变化，并被要求完成一份24小时食物记录。然后将参与者的每日总能量摄入量、宏量营养素摄入量和组成与2017年至2019年新冠疫情前从类似队列收集的数据进行比较。在控制个体年龄、性别、种族和体重指数的同时，使用多变量协方差分析比较饮食结果。约25%的参与者报告感染新冠病毒后出现了感官改变，这些参与者更有可能报告甜味体验的变化，但咸味或油腻食物的体验没有变化。对新冠疫情前后队列的分析显示，新冠疫情后组的参与者蛋白质和钠的摄入量显著更高。了解新冠病毒感染的长期影响可能为化学感官感知在饮食行为中的作用提供关键见解。
