Impact of COVID-19 on the Dietary Pattern of Indian Population: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic triggered fear, anxiety, and worries among people making it a phobia, named as Coronaphobia. This, in turn, changed the dietary pattern of people. Objective: The present study was carried out to investigate, whether there was a change in the dietary pattern of during pandemic. Methodology: An online survey was conducted using Google Form to assess the change in the dietary pattern of Indian population (n = 130) during the pandemic. Moreover, the present study examines the impact of socioeconomic profile of respondents to the extent of change in dietary pattern using a multiple regression equation. Results: The study finds that 76% of the participants, of which 69% were male changed their dietary pattern. Further, addition of immunity boosters along with the normal meal was prominent as the changed dietary pattern among a majority of respondents. Moreover, a majority of participants stopped consuming junk food to strengthen their immunities. In addition, the study found a significant positive effect of age (P < 0.0001) on the extent of change in dietary pattern among survey participants. Conclusion: The study concludes with the recommendation that people should consume immunity boosters and also be engaged with some physical activities to strengthen their immunities.