Evaluation of the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and emotional eating behavior of healthcare professionals

Negative situations experienced by healthcare professionals, such as the increased workload, the anxiety of being infected and infecting the individuals around them, have led to negative emotions such as fear and stress. The relationship between negative emotions and emotional eating is very important. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 and emotional eating behaviors of healthcare professionals. This study was carried out between June and July 2022, with the participation of 200 volunteers, aged 19-64, work in a state hospital. Questionnaire consisting of questions to define demographic information, health status, eating habits, fear of COVID-19 scale, Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ) was applied to individuals and anthropometric measurements of individuals were taken. In addition to the questionnaire form, a 3-day food consumption record was taken in order to determine the food consumption status of individuals. The majority of the participants were women (66%), with a mean age of 40.0±9.21 years. 62% of the participants were diagnosed with COVID-19 and 27.5% were observed to have a chronic disease. 15.5% of the participants reported that they use vitamins/minerals. The mean number of main meals of the participants was 2.7±0.45, the number of snacks was 1.0±0.96. 86% of the participants skip main meals and 38% skip snacks. The mean BMI for female participants is 25.4±4.83 kg/m2, and the mean BMI for male participants is 28.1±3.29 kg/m2 (p<0.05). The waist circumference of women is 80.9±10.95 cm, and it is 95.6±9.85 cm in men (p<0.05). No significant difference was found between the amounts and percentages of energy and macronutrients taken by healthcare professionals according to their COVID-19 diagnosis (p>0.05). A statistically significant difference was found in the intakes of riboflavin (p=0.049), niacin (p=0.025), vitamin B12 (p=0.034) and zinc (p=0.023) according to the gender of all healthcare professionals participating in the study. A significant difference was found between the fear of COVID-19 scale scores of healthcare professionals who diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who did not (p=0.001). The fear of COVID-19 scale scores of all healthcare professionals do not show a significant difference according to BMI groups and chronic disease status (p>0.05). Fear of COVID-19 scale scores of female participants were higher than male participants (p=0.018). No significant difference was found between the EEQ scores of healthcare professionals who diagnosed COVID-19 and those who did not (p>0.05). EEQ scores of all healthcare professionals do not show a significant difference according to BMI groups and chronic disease status (p>0.05). EEQ scores of female participants were higher (p=0.003). No significant correlation was found between the fear of COVID-19 scale and age and BMI (p>0.05). A positive and significant relationship was found between the fear COVID-19 scale and EEQ scores of all healthcare professionals participating in the study (r=0.264; p=0.005). No significant correlation was found between the fear of COVID-19 scale scores and age and BMI (p>0.05). A positive and significant correlation was found between the EEQ scores and BMI values of all healthcare professionals participating in the study (r=0.159; p=0.024). In conclusion, a positive relationship was found between fear of COVID-19 and Emotional Eating behavior.