Public interest in healthy lifestyle changes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Google Trends analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Healthy lifestyle behaviors are accepted as non-pharmacological approaches in the management of diseases. During the pandemic, individuals started to use the internet to get information and protect their health. Methods: The identified healthy lifestyle terms were searched in the Google Trends (GT) for the last five years in five countries. Analysis: We use Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn's test and Mann Whitney U test. Results: While there was a decrease in the frequency of searches for healthy nutrition after the pandemic compared to before the pandemic in Turkiye, the USA and the UK, there was an increase in Brazil. The increase frequency of searches for alcohol cessation after the pandemic was statistically significant in the USA, Brazil and the UK. In Turkiye, the USA, Brazil, the increase in the frequency of searches for the physical exercise topic after the pandemic compared to before the pandemic was statistically significant. Conclusion: It can be concluded that during the pandemic, there was a significant increase in public interest in most of the healthy lifestyle terms in the five countries identified and there was an awareness to adopt a healthy lifestyle.