Abstract
To limit the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, a nationwide lockdown started in Italy in March 2020. In this unpredictable situation, a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was carried out by the Observatory on Food Surplus, Recovery and Waste of CREA Food and Nutrition Centre. The aim of this work was to evaluate how Italian habits changed during this period, the determinants of changes, and the effect on food waste prevention. In a sample of 2678 respondents, 62% showed low Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (AMD). During lockdown many of participants improved the quality of their diet, increasing their consumption of fruit (24.4%), vegetables (28.5%), legumes (22.1%), nuts (12%), and fish or shellfish (14%). Unfavorable changes were observed with the excessive consumption of sweets or pastries (36.9%) and comfort foods (22.7%), and a lack of physical activity (37.2%). The main novelty of this study was the examination of dietary changes identified by a cluster analysis. Respondents with generally high AMD improved their eating habits, while the habits of the respondents with generally low AMD remained unchanged. In addition, nearly 80% of respondents were sensitive to food waste. The study provides a useful contribution to the debate on nutritional recommendations in case of further lockdown.
Highlights
In December 2019, the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 broke out in China and spread rapidly around the world, leading the WHO to declare it a pandemic in March 2020
We focused the assessment on the prevention of food waste, an important issue related the pandemic period in Italy [26]
This paper describes the changes in eating habits and lifestyle that occurred during the period of the containment measures which were adopted to limit the impact of the spread of coronavirus Sars-Cov-2 in Italy during spring 2020
Summary
In December 2019, the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 broke out in China and spread rapidly around the world, leading the WHO to declare it a pandemic in March 2020. Several governments established measures of physical restrictions to contain the virus; in Italy, an emergency law imposing a complete lockdown in the whole country from 8 March 2020 was passed (Legislative Decree 06/2020). Under this law, people were not allowed to leave their homes except for essential activities such as buying food and medicines or for medical reasons. People were encouraged to work from home whenever possible limiting out-of-home activities to essentials Such a situation had never occurred in Italy as well as in the rest of the world, where similar lockdowns were imposed.
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