The effect of fear of COVID-19 on food consumption: A cross-sectional study

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the quarantine process affects the eating habits of individuals. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the COVID-19 fear level of individuals on the change in their eating habits during the pandemic and how much this change is affected by the tendency of eating behavior disorder. For this purpose, Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40) and The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19) and data collection forms determining demographic data, lifestyle and nutritional habits were applied to 397 individuals visited who came to Sevinç Pharmacy between 01.06.2021-30.09.2021. 44.3% of the participants mentioned that gained weight during this period, 11.6% lost weight, 1.3% did not change their weight and 11.6% did not know the weight change. There was no significant effect of fear of covid-19 on the eating behaviors of individuals who are prone to eating disorders (p>0.05), except for whole grain consumption (p<0.05). Among these individuals, it was observed that the fear of covid-19 was higher in those whose whole grain consumption decreased (p<0.05) It has been observed that individuals who had higher the fear of COVID-19 had a significant effect on eating behavior in individuals with healthy eating behavior. It has been observed that the fear of COVID-19 is high in individuals with increased water consumption, whole grain consumption, packaged food consumption and sugary beverage consumption. (p<0.05). At the same time, it was observed that the consumption of vegetables, the frequency of snacks and number of meals decreased in individuals with higher fear of COVID-19 (p<0.05). In order to examine the effect of fear of COVID-19 on eating habits, more studies are needed.