Table 2

Dietary habits before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among all survey participants and according to smoking status (n=660), Israel, 2020

Total (N, %)
n=660
Current smokers (n=437, 66.2%)Former smokers (n=223, 33.8%)P value
Before the COVID-19 pandemic
Striving to reduce salty and/or sweet snacks (n(%))*373 (60.7%)231 (56.2%)142 (70.0%)0.001
Striving to reduce sugary drinks (n(%))*399 (64.8%)245 (59.2%)154 (76.2%)<0.001
Striving to eat at least five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day (n(%))*253 (40.6%)148 (35.6%)105 (50.7%)<0.001
Striving to eat regular meals every day (n(%))*423 (65.7%)262 (61.4%)161 (74.2%)<0.001
Overall dietary habits score prior to the pandemic (mean (SD))*†2.30 (1.37)2.11 (1.35)2.69 (1.31)0.001§
During the COVID-19 pandemic
Eating regular meals (n(%))*
Better145 (22.2%)96 (22.3%)49 (22.1%)0.712
No change298 (45.7%)192 (44.7%)106 (47.7%)
Worse209 (32.1%)142 (33.0%)67 (30.2%)
Eating salty and/or sweet snacks (n(%))*
Better102 (16.0%)64 (15.2%)38 (17.6%)
No change310 (48.6%)206 (48.8%)104 (48.1%)0.717
Worse226 (35.4%)152 (36%)74 (34.3%)
Consuming sugary drinks (n(%))*
Better103 (16.2%)69 (16.5%)34 (15.7%)0.012
No change394 (62.0%)245 (58.5%)149 (69.0%)
Worse138 (21.7%)105 (25.1%)33 (15.3%)
Eating at least five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day (n(%))*
Better157 (24.6%)110 (26.1%)47 (21.7%)
No change375 (58.7%)236 (55.9%)139 (64.1%)0.140
Worse107 (16.7%)76 (18.0%)31 (14.3%)
Overall dietary habits score during the pandemic (mean (SD))*‡8.08 (2.14)8.13 (2.20)7.97 (2.03)0.474§
  • Pearson χ2 test, unless otherwise specified.

  • *Missing: striving to reduce salty and/or sweet snacks=46, striving to reduce sugary drinks=44, striving to eat at least five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day=37, striving to eat regular meals every day=16, overall dietary habits prior to the pandemic=60, eating regular meal=8, eating salty and/or sweet snacks=22, consuming sugary drinks=25, eating at least five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day=21, negative change in all their dietary habits=30 and overall dietary habits during the pandemic=4.

  • †Measured on a scale of 0–4, where 4 indicates adherence to healthy eating habits and 0 indicates no adherence.

  • ‡Measured on a scale of 4–12, where 4 indicates that they improved all the examined dietary habits and 12 indicates that they worsened all the examined dietary habits.

  • §Mann-Whitney U.