Assessment of Dietary and Lifestyle Responses After COVID-19 Vaccine Availability in Selected Arab Countries.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been consistently associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and dietary practices. This study aimed to assess the dietary and lifestyle behaviors of adults after COVID-19 vaccine availability and their attitude toward the vaccine in selected Arab countries. Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted between October 2021 and December 2021 using Google Forms (n = 2259). A multi-component questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine, and behavioral, dietary, and lifestyle responses after easing the restriction. Participants were given a score based on the sum of positive dietary and lifestyle changes. The generalized linear models were used to identify the association between positive dietary and lifestyle changes score and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Weight gain during the pandemic was reported by 39.5% of the participants, 36.1% reported ever getting infected with the COVID-19 virus, and 85% received at least one dose of the vaccine. The key adverse reactions of the COVID-19 vaccine were fatigue, headache, and joint pain, and the main reason for vaccination was protection against infection. Most participants were concerned about the vaccine side effects (45.8%) and inadequate testing (50.7%). After easing of restriction, 54.3% of the participants reduced the frequency of disinfecting objects, and 58.3% joined social events. Most dietary and lifestyle behaviors remained unchanged after vaccine availability but there was an increase in the time spent behind the screen for work (50.1%) and entertainment (42.9%). The results of the multivariate regression analyses revealed that older participants (p = 0.001), those with higher education (p = 0.010), and those working from home (p = 0.040) were more likely to have higher positive dietary and lifestyle changes scores. Conclusion: Although most participants were concerned about vaccine safety, low vaccine hesitancy rates were observed among the study sample. The availability of the COVID-19 vaccines resulted in loosening some of the safety social measures among Arab adults but the negative impact of the pandemic on dietary and lifestyle behaviors remained unaltered.

Dietary Diversity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Disparities, Challenges, and Mitigation Measures.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the Eastern Mediterranean Region's food system's fragility posing severe challenges to maintaining healthy sustainable lifestyle. The aim of this cross-sectional study (N = 13,527 household's family members, mean age: 30.3 ±11.6, 80% women) is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption patterns and household's dietary diversity in 10 Eastern Mediterranean countries. A food frequency questionnaire was used to investigate the consumption patterns along with the calculation of the Food Consumption Score (FCS), a proxy indicator of dietary diversity. Data collected on cooking attitudes, shopping and food stock explore the community mitigation measures. In the overall population, before and during the pandemic, most food groups were consumed less or equal to 4 times per week. As evident from our findings and considering that the pandemic may be better, but it's not over, small to moderate changes in food consumption patterns in relatively short time periods can become permanent and lead to substantial poor dietary diversity over time. While it is a priority to mitigate the immediate impact, one area of great concern is the long-term effects of this pandemic on dietary patterns and dietary diversity in Eastern Mediterranean households. To conclude, the COVID-19 crisis revealed the region's unpreparedness to deal with a pandemic. While the aggressive containment strategy was essential for most countries to help prevent the spread, it came at a high nutritional cost, driving poor dietary diversity.

Assessment of eating habits and lifestyle during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa region: a cross-sectional study.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread globally, forcing countries to apply lockdowns and strict social distancing measures. The aim of this study was to assess eating habits and lifestyle behaviours among residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the lockdown. A cross-sectional study among adult residents of the MENA region was conducted using an online questionnaire designed on Google Forms during April 2020. A total of 2970 participants from eighteen countries participated in the present study. During the pandemic, over 30 % reported weight gain, 6·2 % consumed five or more meals per d compared with 2·2 % before the pandemic (P < 0·001) and 48·8 % did not consume fruits on a daily basis. Moreover, 39·1 % did not engage in physical activity, and over 35 % spent more than 5 h/d on screens. A significant association between the frequency of training during the pandemic and the reported change in weight was found (P < 0·001). A significantly higher percentage of participants reported physical and emotional exhaustion, irritability and tension either all the time or a large part of the time during the pandemic (P < 0·001). Although a high percentage of participants reported sleeping more hours per night during the pandemic, 63 % had sleep disturbances. The study highlights that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a variety of lifestyle changes, physical inactivity and psychological problems among adults in the MENA region.

An Evaluation of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Perceived Social Distancing Policies in Relation to Planning, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy Meals: An Observational Study in 38 Countries Worldwide.

Objectives: To examine changes in planning, selecting, and preparing healthy foods in relation to personal factors (time, money, stress) and social distancing policies during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: Using cross-sectional online surveys collected in 38 countries worldwide in April-June 2020 (N = 37,207, Mage 36.7 SD 14.8, 77% women), we compared changes in food literacy behaviors to changes in personal factors and social distancing policies, using hierarchical multiple regression analyses controlling for sociodemographic variables. Results: Increases in planning (4.7 SD 1.3, 4.9 SD 1.3), selecting (3.6 SD 1.7, 3.7 SD 1.7), and preparing (4.6 SD 1.2, 4.7 SD 1.3) healthy foods were found for women and men, and positively related to perceived time availability and stay-at-home policies. Psychological distress was a barrier for women, and an enabler for men. Financial stress was a barrier and enabler depending on various sociodemographic variables (all p < 0.01). Conclusion: Stay-at-home policies and feelings of having more time during COVID-19 seem to have improved food literacy. Stress and other social distancing policies relate to food literacy in more complex ways, highlighting the necessity of a health equity lens.