Family Food Environment during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, with its cyclical lockdown restrictions and school closures, has influenced family life. The home, work, and school environments have collided and merged to form a new normal for many families. This merging extends into the family food environment, and little is known about how families are currently navigating this landscape. The objective of the present study was to describe families’ adaptations in the family food environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Parents participated in one of 14 virtual focus groups (conducted in English and Spanish between December 2020 and February 2021). Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcripts. Results: Forty-eight parents (81% Hispanic and SES diverse) participated. Five themes and one subtheme were identified around changes in eating habits and mealtime frequency, increases in snacking, family connectedness at mealtimes, and use of screens at meals. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the family food environment. Families shared how their eating habits have changed and that device usage increased at mealtimes. Some changes (e.g., weight gain) may have lasting health implications for both children and parents. Public health officials, pediatricians, and schools should work with families to resume healthy habits post pandemic.

Transformation in culinary behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: In-depth interviews with food gatekeepers in urban India

“…Finally, our gatekeepers threw light on the increased frequency of family meals during the lockdown, a dining experience also reported in other cultural contexts including the USA( Hammons & Robart, 2021 ), Russia ( Ben Hassen et al, 2021 ), and Qatar( Ben Hassen et al, 2020 ). They thoroughly enjoyed having all their meals and snacks with their loved ones, which was rarely witnessed prior to the COVID-19.…”

Consumer experiences of food environments during the Covid-19 pandemic: Global insights from a rapid online survey of individuals from 119 countries

“…Of these, nearly half were conducted in the United States of America (USA) (n = 4) ( Adams et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Hammons and Robart, 2021 ; Silva et al, 2021 ), followed by two in Latin America (Brazil, Mexico) ( Gonzalez-Alejo et al, 2020 ; Horta et al, 2021 ), and one each in Africa (Zimbabe) ( Murendo et al, 2021 ), Asia (China) ( Ahmed et al, 2020 ), and the Pacific Islands (Samoa) ( Emiliata et al, 2020 ). The majority of studies reported changes in external food environments, including the natural, built ( Ahmed et al, 2020 ; FAO, 2020 ) and digital ( Horta et al, 2021 ), home food environments ( Adams et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Hammons and Robart, 2021 ), and household and individual-level food acquisition practices ( Emiliata et al, 2020 ; Murendo et al, 2021 ; Silva et al, 2021 ) since the onset of the pandemic, with differences and similarities observed between level of country development, stringency of pandemic-related mitigation strategies, and socio-economic status. The one multi-country study that has been conducted interviewed urban food system stakeholders such as provincial government officers ( FAO, 2020 ).…”

“…The one multi-country study that has been conducted interviewed urban food system stakeholders such as provincial government officers ( FAO, 2020 ). From the above studies, only three sought to understand the lived experiences of food environment changes during the pandemic using qualitative methodologies ( Emiliata et al, 2020 ; Hammons and Robart, 2021 ; Silva et al, 2021 ). No study to date has assessed the impact of Covid-19-related mitigation strategies on food environments at the consumer level across multiple countries or contexts during the early months of the pandemic.…”

Analysis of Food Habits during Pandemic in a Polish Population-Based Sample of Primary School Adolescents: Diet and Activity of Youth during COVID-19 (DAY-19) Study

“…As indicated by Barwais [73], during the COVID-19 pandemic physical activity levels decreased, and this was stated for the activities practiced alone, with friends, families, and team sports. Interestingly, a study conducted by Kaur et al [74] in a population of adults revealed that, especially in the initial phase of the pandemic and resultant lockdowns, respondents had low motivation to practice any sports, while afterwards the situation changed and their motivation increased, as similarly observed in another study for following a healthy diet [61]. This confirms that even during the pandemic, there are possibilities to increase physical activity and to correct improper dietary behaviors, but dedicated tools and adequate time should be applied.…”

“…In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic some researchers noted positive changes of nutrition of families, as they spent more time preparing dishes together [23,24]. On the other hand, some authors revealed also negative changes of the nutritional behaviors within families during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were noted especially in the initial phase of the pandemic [61]. In spite of the fact that the influence of family members was not studied in the DAY-19 Study, it cannot be ruled out, taking into account that family members influence one another their food habits, so the negative food habits of adolescents may be shared by all their family members.…”