Population-scale dietary interests during the COVID-19 pandemic

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has altered people’s lives around the world. Here we document population-wide shifts in dietary interests in 18 countries in 2020, as revealed through time series of Google search volumes. We find that during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic there was an overall surge in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2022-02, Vol.13 (1), p.1073-14, Article 1073
Main Authors: Gligorić, Kristina, Chiolero, Arnaud, Kıcıman, Emre, White, Ryen W., West, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Bakery products
Carbohydrates
Cooking
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Diet
Documents
Energy Intake
Food
Food consumption
Food Preferences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
multidisciplinary
Nutrition
Nutritional Status
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Search engines
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Time series
Viral diseases
Viruses
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Summary:The SARS-CoV-2 virus has altered people’s lives around the world. Here we document population-wide shifts in dietary interests in 18 countries in 2020, as revealed through time series of Google search volumes. We find that during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic there was an overall surge in food interest, larger and longer-lasting than the surge during typical end-of-year holidays in Western countries. The shock of decreased mobility manifested as a drastic increase in interest in consuming food at home and a corresponding decrease in consuming food outside of home. The largest (up to threefold) increases occurred for calorie-dense carbohydrate-based foods such as pastries, bakery products, bread, and pies. The observed shifts in dietary interests have the potential to globally affect food consumption and health outcomes. These findings can inform governmental and organizational decisions regarding measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on diet and nutrition. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has altered people’s lives around the world, not only through the disease it causes, but also through unprecedented restrictions. Here the authors document population-wide shifts in dietary interests in 18 countries in 2020, as revealed through time series of Google search volumes.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-28498-z