The disease caused by the New Coronavirus (COVID-19) totalized so far 418 million confirmed cases and caused 5.8 million deaths worldwide. Since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, a wide range of actions and policies were implanted to contain its rapid spread around the globe. One of the most adopted health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic was the social distancing rules, which was accompanied by restrictions on the operation of the most diverse face-to-face activities and attendance services, leading to an abrupt change in the way that people live, work, study, play, exercise, interact, and also in the way they eat.
Therefore, healthy lifestyle habits such as physical activity were compromised in several contexts: leisure-time, sports practice, and training were affected by the temporary closure of sports facilities, playgrounds, parks, and gyms; active commuting was compromised by stay-at-home policies and restriction of the operation in places and activities where people used to go by walk or cycle, such as schools, companies, markets, and stores, which also affected work and occupational tasks, being replaced by home-office or even take time off working. These lifestyle changes resulted in higher use of electronic devices for work and occupational activities (online classes, meetings, remote work tasks), but also for entertainment (movies, series, social media, and television shows).
Regarding the eating habits, several aspects of access to food changed during COVID-19 pandemic, such as the higher use of delivery services, the higher difficulty to shopping at the market due to agglomeration restrictions and health protocols, as well as the impact on family income due to rising prices of foods and the commitment to certain work activities. Furthermore, the changes in the routine of the people due to social distancing policies, which affected their schedules and lifestyle, led to longer periods of stay at home and may also have affected their eating habits and food choices. In addition, some periods of pandemics were worrying about food insecurity, where people were afraid of food products being out of stock at supermarkets, leading to compulsive purchases of food in larger amounts than usual and consequently an excessive availability of food at home.
Another important impact of Covid-19 pandemic was the mental health impairment. This critical period caused uncertainties, fears, boredom and worries about the health and living condition, being trigger points to feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress, which have been associated with unhealthy eating habits since before pandemic.
For this reason, considering the current 2 years of COVID-19 pandemic and the wide range of possible changes occurred in the lifestyle habits and eating of people worldwide since then, this Special Edition aimed to gather high-quality articles which investigated the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on eating habits from most diverse populations worldwide, its associated factors, determinants, and impact/effectiveness of actions and policies. We welcome the submission of scientific articles within this scope (original research, reviews, clinical trials, brief research reports, community case studies).
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Observational studies investigating the impact of social distancing policies on eating habits, food choices, and dietary patterns as well as associated factors with these changes (i.e. lifestyle changes, physical activity, sedentary behavior, mental health, work-related factors);
- Interventional studies which promoted actions for facing unhealthy eating habits during COVID-19 pandemic;
- Reviews of current literature about COVID-19 pandemic effects on eating habits in general or special populations.
The disease caused by the New Coronavirus (COVID-19) totalized so far 418 million confirmed cases and caused 5.8 million deaths worldwide. Since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, a wide range of actions and policies were implanted to contain its rapid spread around the globe. One of the most adopted health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic was the social distancing rules, which was accompanied by restrictions on the operation of the most diverse face-to-face activities and attendance services, leading to an abrupt change in the way that people live, work, study, play, exercise, interact, and also in the way they eat.
Therefore, healthy lifestyle habits such as physical activity were compromised in several contexts: leisure-time, sports practice, and training were affected by the temporary closure of sports facilities, playgrounds, parks, and gyms; active commuting was compromised by stay-at-home policies and restriction of the operation in places and activities where people used to go by walk or cycle, such as schools, companies, markets, and stores, which also affected work and occupational tasks, being replaced by home-office or even take time off working. These lifestyle changes resulted in higher use of electronic devices for work and occupational activities (online classes, meetings, remote work tasks), but also for entertainment (movies, series, social media, and television shows).
Regarding the eating habits, several aspects of access to food changed during COVID-19 pandemic, such as the higher use of delivery services, the higher difficulty to shopping at the market due to agglomeration restrictions and health protocols, as well as the impact on family income due to rising prices of foods and the commitment to certain work activities. Furthermore, the changes in the routine of the people due to social distancing policies, which affected their schedules and lifestyle, led to longer periods of stay at home and may also have affected their eating habits and food choices. In addition, some periods of pandemics were worrying about food insecurity, where people were afraid of food products being out of stock at supermarkets, leading to compulsive purchases of food in larger amounts than usual and consequently an excessive availability of food at home.
Another important impact of Covid-19 pandemic was the mental health impairment. This critical period caused uncertainties, fears, boredom and worries about the health and living condition, being trigger points to feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress, which have been associated with unhealthy eating habits since before pandemic.
For this reason, considering the current 2 years of COVID-19 pandemic and the wide range of possible changes occurred in the lifestyle habits and eating of people worldwide since then, this Special Edition aimed to gather high-quality articles which investigated the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on eating habits from most diverse populations worldwide, its associated factors, determinants, and impact/effectiveness of actions and policies. We welcome the submission of scientific articles within this scope (original research, reviews, clinical trials, brief research reports, community case studies).
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Observational studies investigating the impact of social distancing policies on eating habits, food choices, and dietary patterns as well as associated factors with these changes (i.e. lifestyle changes, physical activity, sedentary behavior, mental health, work-related factors);
- Interventional studies which promoted actions for facing unhealthy eating habits during COVID-19 pandemic;
- Reviews of current literature about COVID-19 pandemic effects on eating habits in general or special populations.
