Changes in food consumption in southern Mexico: effects of COVID-19 isolation

Abstract

Introduction. The isolation due to COVID-19 influenced the lifestyle of the world population. In Mexico, it was reported that this influence was mostly negative. However, there are few studies that report this impact in highly marginalized populations such as Oaxaca, which before the pandemic already had high malnutrition figures. Objective. To analyze the effects of isolation by COVID-19 on the food consumption of the population of southern Mexico. Materials and methods. Longitudinal study, with a (self-selected) sample of adults recruited through a link to a page in LimeSurvey. The first requirement was informed consent. Sociodemographic data were recolected and a quantitative questionnaire was applied on the frequency of consumption of recommended (meat, cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruits) and non-recommended (soda, miscellaneous group, sugar, and alcoholic beverages) foods (servings/ day). The participants answered the survey at the beginning of the isolation (March'2019) and in January 2021. The data was analyzed with SPSS'23. Results. A significant decrease was observed in the consumption of servings/day (p<0.001) of meat, cereals, legumes and vegetables and on the other hand, the consumption of all non-recommended foods analyzed (soda, miscellaneous group, sugar and alcoholic beverages) increased exponentially (p<0.001). Conclusions. During the isolation due to COVID-19, the Oaxacan population increased the consumption of unhealthy foods and decreased that of healthy ones. Considering that the health situation prior to the pandemic was no longer as expected, these results provide an alarming panorama that requires intervention.