18 Mapping data opportunities relating to food, nutrition and health in the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: BMJ nutrition, prevention & health prevention & health, 2022-04, Vol.5 (Suppl 1), p.A12-A13
• Main Authors: Crocombe, Dominic, Buckner, Luke, Vale, Marjorie Lima do, Macinich, Elaine, Almoosawi, Suzana, Ray, Sumantra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Dietitians; Drinking water; Expenditures; Food programs; Food waste; Mental health; Nutrition; Nutritional status; Pandemics; Sanitation; Summit abstracts; Surveillance
• ISSN: 2516-5542; 2516-5542
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjnph-2022-nnedprosummit.25

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the nutrition and health of individuals, households, and populations globally. Through exposing fragilities in food, health, and social welfare systems, the negative influence of COVID-19 continues to affect the global burden of malnutrition. The nature and scale of these impacts are not yet well understood thus the body of evidence for informing policy is limited. Collating and monitoring relevant data in real-time from multiple levels, sectors and sources is essential in preparing and responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectivesTo identify key data sources related to food, nutrition, and health indicators in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA COVID-19, food, nutrition and health framework was developed through multiple iterative rounds of online multidisciplinary discussions including the NNEdPro COVID-19 taskforce and the Swiss Re Institute’s Republic of Science, which comprised researchers and clinicians with expertise in data science, food, nutrition, and health.ResultsThe proposed framework encompasses five socio-ecological levels which were further sub-divided by six categories of the food and nutrition ecosystem, including food production & supply, food environment & access, food choices & dietary patterns, nutritional status & comorbidities, health & disease outcomes, health & nutrition services. A limited number of exemplar variables for the assessment of global status of food, nutrition and health are identified under each category.Abstract 18 Table 1Proposed data framework in relation to health, food, nutrition, and the COVID-19 pandemic Food Production & Supply Food Access Food Choices & Dietary patterns Nutritional status & comorbidities Health/disease outcomes Health & Nutrition Services Individual/Household Allotment use/gardening metrics; Policies and incentives Proportion of expenditure on food; Food bank use; Food insecurity; Coping strategy index; Social mobility (across generations and in the shorter term); Numbers moving into (and out of) poverty Food preferences; Food purchasing; Food preparation; Food consumption; Food waste; Breastfeeding Primary/secondary health care records Physical activity; Mental health; Wearable device data; Chronic disease management; Health insurance data Access to sanitation & potable water; Use of universal healthcare services; Use of nutrition/dietitian services; Use of mental health services Regional/National Production indices of specifi