Food choice motives and the nutritional quality of diet during the COVID-19 lockdown in France

Abstract

To limit the transmission of COVID-19, nationwide lockdown was imposed in France between March, 17th and May 10th, 2020. This disruption in individuals’ daily routines likely altered food consumption habits. We examined how changes in food choice motives related to changes in nutritional quality during the lockdown compared to before. A convenience sample of 938 French adults completed online questionnaires on the Qualtrics platform at the end of April 2020. Participants were retrospectively asked about their food choice motives and food consumption during the month before and in the first month of the lockdown. The importance of nine food choice motives was assessed: health, convenience, sensory appeal, natural content, ethical concern, weight control, mood, familiarity, and price, scoring from 1 to 4. Food intakes were recorded using a food frequency questionnaire including 110 foods, 12 non-alcoholic beverages and 4 alcoholic beverages. Adherence to the French dietary recommendations before and during the lockdown was estimated using the simplified PNNS-GS2, scoring from −17 to 11.5. The nutritional quality of diet was lower during the lockdown compared to before (−0.32, SD 2.28, p < 0.001). Food choice motives significantly changed and an increase in the importance of weight control was associated with increased nutritional quality (β = 0.89, p < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.032), whereas an increase in the importance of mood was associated with decreased nutritional quality (β = −0.43, p = 0.021, partial η 2 = 0.006). The lockdown period in France was related to a decrease in nutritional quality of diet on average, which could be partly explained by changes in food choice motives. The lockdown was indeed related to modification of food choice motives, notably with an increase of mood as a food choice motive for 48% of the participants, but also with an increase of health (26%), ethical concern (21%) and natural content (19%) suggesting a growing awareness of the importance of sustainable food choices in some participants.

Parents’ Perception of Food Insecurity and of Its Effects on Their Children in Italy Six Months after the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak

“…Variations in mental health may contribute to or impair healthy eating, in a bi-directional relation between eating and mental health: one’s mood or psychological state can affect what and how much one eats and eating affects one’s mood and psychological well-being [ 74 ]. A recent study revealed the importance of mood as the leading food choice motive in 48% of 938 adults interviewed about their food consumption during the COVID-19 lockdown in France [ 75 ]. This is in line with the results of our study: all mood changes in both parents and children were associated with a modification in children’s food consumption, either higher or lower; mood changes in children were mainly associated with weight gain, but also with weight loss.…”

Child eating behaviors, parental feeding practices and food shopping motivations during the COVID-19 lockdown in France: (How) did they change?

“…For example, Di Renzo et al (2020) studied eating habits and lifestyles changes during the lockdown among the Italian population (aged between 12 and 86 years). Marty, de Lauzon, Labesse & Nicklaus (2021) studied how changes in French adults’ food choice motives were related to changes in nutritional quality during the lockdown compared to the period before the lockdown. Pietrobelli et al (2020) conducted a study in Italy on eating behavior with parents of children aged 6–18 years, but the sample was very small (N = 41) and the children all had obesity.…”

Adherence to the Gluten-Free Diet during the Lockdown for COVID-19 Pandemic: A Web-Based Survey of Italian Subjects with Celiac Disease

“…CD has the peculiarity of merely dietetic treatment, which could be impacted in different ways by the restrictive measures, possibly implying difficulties in the supply of gluten-free products [ 3 ] or avoiding eating out, known to be an occasion of potential contamination or transgression to the GFD [ 4 , 5 ]. Previous findings on the impact of the lockdown on dietary habits in the general population are controversial, with some studies reporting a decrease in nutritional quality of diet on average worldwide [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], while a recent survey showed an increased healthy eating during the pandemic, thanks to less eating out and increased cooking [ 13 ]. Therefore, we aimed to assess the impact of the restrictive measures on the adherence of Italian CD subjects to the gluten-free diet (GFD) and on the management of the disease during the lockdown, by a web-based survey.…”