Ultra-Processed Food vs. Fruit and Vegetable Consumption before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Greek and Swedish Students.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children's lifestyles, including dietary behaviors. Of particular concern among these behaviors is the heightened prevalence of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption, which has been linked to the development of obesity and related non-communicable dise...
| Published in: | Nutrients Vol. 15; no. 10; pp. 2321 - 2335 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
MDPI
May2023
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=163989005&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 163989005 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 20726643 B0TT jtl: Nutrients issn: 20726643 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: May2023 vid: 15 iid: 10 pid: 97109 pub: MDPI artinfo: ui: 163989005 163989005 163989005 10.3390/nu15102321 163989005 ppf: 2321 ppct: 14 formats: tig: atl: Ultra-Processed Food vs. Fruit and Vegetable Consumption before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Greek and Swedish Students. aug: au: Dhammawati, Friska Fagerberg, Petter Diou, Christos Mavrouli, Ioanna Koukoula, Evangelia Lekka, Eirini Stefanopoulos, Leandros Maglaveras, Nicos Heimeier, Rachel Karavidopoulou, Youla Ioakimidis, Ioannis affil: Innovative Use of Mobile Phones to Promote Physical Activity and Nutrition Across the Lifespan (the IMPACT) Research Group, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, 14152 Stockholm, Sweden sug: subj: Students Psychosocial Factors Students Psychosocial Factors Food Intake Fruit Vegetables COVID-19 Pandemic Food, Commercially Packaged Eating Behavior Evaluation Human Male Female Child Adolescence Greece Sweden Mobile Applications Utilization Data Collection Methods Meals Descriptive Statistics Funding Source Child: 6-12 years Adolescent: 13-18 years Male Female ab: Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children's lifestyles, including dietary behaviors. Of particular concern among these behaviors is the heightened prevalence of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption, which has been linked to the development of obesity and related non-communicable diseases. The present study examines the changes in (1) UPF and (2) vegetable and/or fruit consumption among school-aged children in Greece and Sweden before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The analyzed dataset consisted of main meal pictures (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) captured by 226 Greek students (94 before the pandemic and 132 during the pandemic) and 421 Swedish students (293 before and 128 during the pandemic), aged 9–18, who voluntarily reported their meals using a mobile application. The meal pictures were collected over four-month periods over two consecutive years; namely, between the 20th of August and the 20th of December in 2019 (before the COVID-19 outbreak) and the same period in 2020 (during the COVID-19 outbreak). The collected pictures were annotated manually by a trained nutritionist. A chi-square test was performed to evaluate the differences in proportions before versus during the pandemic. Results: In total, 10,770 pictures were collected, including 6474 pictures from before the pandemic and 4296 pictures collected during the pandemic. Out of those, 86 pictures were excluded due to poor image quality, and 10,684 pictures were included in the final analyses (4267 pictures from Greece and 6417 pictures from Sweden). The proportion of UPF significantly decreased during vs. before the pandemic in both populations (50% vs. 46%, p = 0.010 in Greece, and 71% vs. 66%, p < 0.001 in Sweden), while the proportion of vegetables and/or fruits significantly increased in both cases (28% vs. 35%, p < 0.001 in Greece, and 38% vs. 42%, p = 0.019 in Sweden). There was a proportional increase in meal pictures containing UPF among boys in both countries. In Greece, both genders showed an increase in vegetables and/or fruits, whereas, in Sweden, the increase in fruit and/or vegetable consumption was solely observed among boys. Conclusions: The proportion of UPF in the Greek and Swedish students' main meals decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic vs. before the pandemic, while the proportion of main meals with vegetables and/or fruits increased. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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