Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the eating behavior of preschool children during the social isolation period of the first wave of COVID-19 in Fortaleza, Ceará. This is a cross-sectional observational study, carried out with caregivers of preschool children aged from 2 to 6 years. The PENSE questionnaire (IBGE) was used to collect socio-economic data and the data referring to eating behavior was used the CEBQ. 286 parents (mother and father) and their children participated in the research, of which 53.8% were female. The preschoolers in the study constituted 5.2% of infant I, 9.8% infant II, 14.7% infant III, 20.6% infant IV, 23.1% infant V, 15.4% 1-year elementary school and 11.2% did not attend school. As for the education of most mothers, 83.9% completed higher education. Regarding the number of people who lived in the household, 44.4% lived with 4 people and 73.1% had 1 child. The highest mean values are present in the dimension "Pleasure to eat" (EF) and "Response to satiety" (SR), while the lowest refer to the dimensions "About Emotional Intake" (EOE) and "Response to food" (FR). The statistical results of the “Food Fussiness” (FF) subscale point out important aspects about the selectivity in the sample of the present study, demonstrating a good tendency to picky eating. The dimension with the lowest mean was “Emotional Overeating”, demonstrating that when confined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preschoolers still have EOE lower than all other subscales. It follows that children in preschool stage have presented a higher prevalence in subscales that are linked to food avoidance behavior.
Highlights
The disease caused by the new Coronavirus – 2019, popularly known as COVID-19, which was firstly mentioned inWuhan, China, in December 2019, and quickly spread around the world, has resulted in a global health crisis
Concerning the number of people who lives in the house, 44,4% of them live with 4 people; 23,3% live with 3 people and 18,2% live with 5 people
The children who participated in this study were separated in the following level of schooling: 15 (5,2%) preschool education; 28 (9,8%) preschool education; 42 (14,7%) preschool education; 59 (20,6%) preschool education; 66 (23,1%) preschool education; 44 (15,4%) first grade of elementary school and 11,2% of the kids did not go to school
Summary
The disease caused by the new Coronavirus – 2019, popularly known as COVID-19, which was firstly mentioned inWuhan, China, in December 2019, and quickly spread around the world, has resulted in a global health crisis. In this scenario of COVID-19 pandemic, public health recommendations and government measures have enforced lockdown, restricting movement and physical contact between people and creating social isolation. This new reality of social and physical distancing has caused some impacts due to the fact that children had to stop going to school and, at the same time, some parents lost their jobs or started working from home. Environmental changes that modify lifestyle habits may be positive or negative, so, it is necessary to pay attention to the relationship established with kids since their first years of life, mainly after they start preschool, as it is when children become more active (Scaglioni et al, 2018; Taylor & Emmet, 2018) Changes in the family environment resulting from the lockdown have resulted in disruptions to children’s daily routines and activities. Emerging research indicates that changes in the family environment in the context of the COVID-19
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