Dietary Practices of Jamaicans during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The emergence of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has contributed to many life-changing events influencing people worldwide.

Objective: This study aimed to examine whether eating habits have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the food consumption of Jamaicans and the diet intake of Jamaicans before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A Web-based non-probability sampling survey was distributed to 510 sampled respondents across all the parishes in Jamaica through text messages, calls, emails, and face-to-face interviews. The data were gathered and then converted from Google Forms to the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, Version 25.0, with a 95% confidence interval.

Results: The findings indicate most of the sampled respondents were females (68.0%, n=347), 18-25 age cohort (36.5%, n=186), and that 55% (285) of them indicated that they had a change in dietary practices while 44% (n=225) did not. A cross-tabulation between gender and change in dietary practices of Jamaicans during the COVID -19 pandemic was done, which indicated that there was no statistical relationship between the two aforementioned variables (?²_critical =5.02 > ?²_calculated =.159, P = 0.69); therefore, this study failed to reject the null hypothesis.

Conclusions: Most Jamaicans' dietary practices have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the study revealed that dietary practices improved individuals eating healthier and reduced consumption of foods that had a negative health impact.