Who We Seek and What We Eat? Sources of Food Choice Inspirations and Their Associations with Adult Dietary Patterns before and during the COVID-19 Lockdown in New Zealand.

Rajshri Roy,Lauranna Teunissen,Victoria Egli,Lisa Te Morenga,Sarah Gerritsen,Teresa Gontijo De Castro,Jillian Haszard,Charlotte De Backer,Paulien Decorte,Isabelle Cuykx

doi:10.3390/nu13113917

Rajshri Roy, Lauranna Teunissen + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13113917

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Abstract

Research shows the shaping of food choices often occurs at home, with the family widely recognised as significant in food decisions. However, in this digital age, our eating habits and decision-making processes are also determined by smartphone apps, celebrity chefs, and social media. The ‘COVID Kai Survey’ online questionnaire assessed cooking and shopping behaviours among New Zealanders during the 2020 COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ using a cross-sectional study design. This paper examines how sources of food choice inspirations (cooking-related advice and the reasons for recipe selection) are related to dietary patterns before and during the lockdown. Of the 2977 participants, those influenced by nutrition and health experts (50.9% before; 53.9% during the lockdown) scored higher for the healthy dietary pattern. Participants influenced by family and friends (35% before; 29% during the lockdown) had significantly higher scores for the healthy and the meat dietary patterns, whereas participants influenced by celebrity cooks (3.8% before; 5.2% during the lockdown) had significantly higher scores in the meat dietary pattern. There was no evidence that associations differed before and during the lockdown. The lockdown was related to modified food choice inspiration sources, notably an increase in ‘comforting’ recipes as a reason for recipe selection (75.8%), associated with higher scoring in the unhealthy dietary pattern during the lockdown. The lockdown in New Zealand saw an average decrease in nutritional quality of diets in the ‘COVID Kai Survey’, which could be partly explained by changes in food choice inspiration sources.

Highlights

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Optimal nutrition is important for improved health and well-being and reduces the risk of diet-related health conditions, including chronic disease
We examined how changes to the sources of food- and cooking-related advice and the reasons for recipe selection related to changes in dietary patterns during the initial
Half of the respondents in this study reported being influenced by nutrition and health experts for food and cooking before the lockdown, even though there is research that shows that the current online dissemination of evidence-based dietary guidelines does not have an extensive reach in the general population [4]

Summary

Introduction

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Optimal nutrition is important for improved health and well-being and reduces the risk of diet-related health conditions, including chronic disease. Receive nutrition information through both media and interpersonal sources, because they are passively exposed to it through routine media use and conversation with others, or they actively seek such information [3,4]. The accessibility to nutrition information is near-universal due to internet access, and the information available varies in its scientific integrity and provider expertise [5]. Various studies have shown that dietary advice could help populations with their daily meal choice and preparation, but few studies have a comprehensive overview of the type and frequency of food advice that is considered beneficial [6]

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