Changes in the frequency of eating out, consuming ready-to-eat meals, and eating at home before and after the spread of COVID-19 among students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine changes in the frequency of eating out before and after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In January 2021, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among 21 third-year students in Aomori City, Japan. Participants completed the survey containing questions on their characteristics, monthly food expenses, changes in meals between January 2020 and January 2021, frequency of eating out in January 2020, frequency of purchases of ready-to-eat products in January 2020, current reasons for eating out, current reasons for refraining from eating out, and situations where they would not refrain from eating out in the future. In 2020, nine people (43%) answered “once a week” as the frequency of eating out. The change in the frequency of eating out and the change in the frequency of ready-to-eat meal showed a positive correlation (r=0.796), while the frequency of eating out and the frequency of consuming home meals showed a negative correlation (r=-0.661). It was suggested that the frequency of eating out may be negatively associated with the frequency of consuming home-cooked meals among students.