Comparison of dietary habits before and after the COVID-19 restrictions in a population of children aged 7-14 participating in the PICTURE study

Introduction:According to an OECD report, food consumption changed among children and adolescents in EU countries during the pandemic, but the findings are inconclusive.The aim of the study was to analyze changes in body mass and dietary habits in a cohort of children examined just before the pandemic and again in 2022, when COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted. Material and methods:The analysis is based on selected data collected as a part of the Population Cohort Study of Wroclaw Citizens (PICTURE).This article is based on data from children, who completed the first visit until the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, that is between 21 st November 2019 and the 10 th of March 2020.They were invited again in 2022 for a repeated measurement.The final analysis included 108 children (54.6% girls) with complete data at both time points.Results: At the baseline, 81.5% of children had normal body weight, 12% had overweight and 2.8% had obesity.At the follow-up, 84.3% of children had normal body weight, 9.3% had overweight and 2.8% had obesity.Twenty percent (20.4%) of children reported a change in dietary habits during the pandemic.The average consumption of vegetables decreased in the children's group from 1.00 0.75 servings/day to 0.90 0.80 servings/day (p = 0.05).Average fruit intake decreased from 1.70 1.13 servings/day to 1.45 1.08 servings/ day (p = 0.02).Average consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages increased from 0.28 0.38 servings/day to 0.44 0.69 (p = 0.01).The average consumption of poultry increased from 0.39 0.25 servings/day to 0.51 0.50 (p = 0.05).Conclusions: During the pandemic dietary habits changed only slightly, but vegetables and fruit consumption among children and adolescents declined, while consumption of poultry and sugar-sweetened beverages increased.Consumption of vegetables, whole grains and dairy products both before and after the pandemic restrictions was lower than recommended.