Food availability, accessibility and dietary practices during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country survey

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the perceived effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown measures on food availability, accessibility, dietary practices, and strategies used by participants to cope with these measures. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional multi-country online survey between May and July 2020. We used a study-specific questionnaire mainly based on the adaptation of questions to assess food security and coping strategies from the World Food Programme’s “Emergency Food Security Assessment” and “The Coping Strategy Index”. Setting: The questionnaire was hosted online using Google Forms and shared using social media platforms. Participants: A total of 1075 adult participants from 82 countries completed the questionnaire. Results: As a prelude to COVID-19 lockdowns, 62.7 % of the participants reported to have stockpiled food, mainly cereals (59.5% of the respondents) and legumes (48.8%). An increase in the prices of staples such as cereals and legumes, was widely reported. Price increases have been identified as an obstacle to food acquisition by 32.7% of participants. Participants reported having lesser variety (50.4%), quality (30.2%), and quantity (39.2 %) of foods, with disparities across regions. Vulnerable groups were reported to be facing some struggle to acquire adequate food, especially people with chronic diseases (20.2%), the elderly (17.3%), and children (14.5%). To cope with the situation, participants mostly relied on less preferred foods (49%), reduced portion sizes (30%), and/or reduced the number of meals (25.7%). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted food accessibility and availability, altered dietary practices and worsened the food insecurity situation, particularly in the most fragile regions.

Household Food Security During The COVID-19 Pandemic in Urban and Semi-Urban Areas in Indonesia.

“…Research conducted by Kansiime [21] indicate that during a pandemic COVID-19, a reduction in the frequency of consumption of a variety of food groups and mainly occurs in low-income families. Jafri et al [22] also reported that during the COVID-19 pandemic there was less access to food so respondents tended to reduce the size and amount of food.…”

“…Research conducted by Jafri et al [22] reported that vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women and the elderly are struggling to obtain adequate food during the COVID-19 pandemic, and one way to do this was to reduce the amount of food eaten. Changes in food consumption in vulnerable groups during the pandemic in this study risked the emergence of nutritional problems in each of these groups.…”

The COVID-19 pandemic and child malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review

“…According to Nechifor et al (2021), this in turn leads to reduced affordability of imported food and ultimately lower consumption of staple foods, increasing malnutrition of vulnerable groups. Jafri et al (2021) attributed the increased prices for food mainly to the import side. Due to import declines, the local population was exposed to lower quantities of basic consumer items, resulting in higher prices (Jafri et al, 2021).…”

“…Jafri et al (2021) attributed the increased prices for food mainly to the import side. Due to import declines, the local population was exposed to lower quantities of basic consumer items, resulting in higher prices (Jafri et al, 2021). This was amplified by the lower regional production of food due to limited agricultural activity, translating into even higher prices (Headey et al, 2020;Aborode et al, 2020).…”

Factors Associated with Financial Security, Food Security and Quality of Daily Lives of Residents in Nigeria during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The impact of COVID-19 pandemic varied between regions and countries. Food insecurity was worse in the most fragile regions of the world [1]. There were also substantial variations in anxiety and depression symptoms across countries during the COVID-19 lockdown [2,3].…”