Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown in snack consumption in portuguese students - a longitudinal study

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia
Em 2020, o mundo foi afetado pelo coronavírus. Pessoas por todo o mundo tiveram que lidar com o Lockdown e distanciamento social, permanecendo a maior parte do tempo em casa. As crianças tiveram de se adaptar às consequências do Lockdown e distanciamento social, tais como trabalho
remoto e tele-escola. O COVID-19 afetou a vida de muitas pessoas, incluindo os padrões alimentares e
consumo de snacks. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o impacto do COVID-19 no comportamento
alimentar dos alunos, recorrendo ao Healthy Eating Index. Este estudo conta com uma amostra de 726
alunos, 328 rapazes (52.6%) de 36 turmas do 5º ao 12º ano de escolaridade, de duas escolas publicas
no norte de Portugal. Os dados foram recolhidos no ano letivo 2020/2021, pré, durante e pós
Lockdown. Cerca de 90% dos alunos tomou o pequeno-almoço, e a maioria consumiu snacks e trouxe
os seus snacks de casa. No total, houve uma melhoria na qualidade dos snacks consumidos durante o
Lockdown.
In 2020, the world was affected by the coronavirus disease. People around the globe experienced Lockdown and social distancing, staying at home most of the time. Children had to adapt to Lockdown and social distancing, imposing unusual circumstances, such as remote working and online schooling.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected many life spheres of the individuals, including feeding patterns and
snack intake. The main goal of this study was to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in
children snacking patterns using the Healthy Eating Index. This study analyses data from a sample of
726 students, 382 males (52.6%), from 36 classes of the late elementary (i.e. 5th grade) through high
school (i.e. 12th grade), from two public schools in the north of Portugal. Data were collected in 5
moments during de 2020/2021 school year, in pre, during, and post Lockdown moments. Almost 90%
of the students took breakfast, the majority snacked and choose to bring their snacks from home. There
was an increase in the quality of the snacks consumed during Lockdown.