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(%))* | ||||
| Better | 145 (22.2%) | 96 (22.3%) | 49 (22.1%) | 0.712 |
| No change | 298 (45.7%) | 192 (44.7%) | 106 (47.7%) | |
| Worse | 209 (32.1%) | 142 (33.0%) | 67 (30.2%) | |
| Eating salty and/or sweet snacks (n(%))* | ||||
| Better | 102 (16.0%) | 64 (15.2%) | 38 (17.6%) | |
| No change | 310 (48.6%) | 206 (48.8%) | 104 (48.1%) | 0.717 |
| Worse | 226 (35.4%) | 152 (36%) | 74 (34.3%) | |
| Consuming sugary drinks (n(%))* | ||||
| Better | 103 (16.2%) | 69 (16.5%) | 34 (15.7%) | 0.012 |
| No change | 394 (62.0%) | 245 (58.5%) | 149 (69.0%) | |
| Worse | 138 (21.7%) | 105 (25.1%) | 33 (15.3%) | |
| Eating at least five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day (n(%))* | ||||
| Better | 157 (24.6%) | 110 (26.1%) | 47 (21.7%) | |
| No change | 375 (58.7%) | 236 (55.9%) | 139 (64.1%) | 0.140 |
| Worse | 107 (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.