The impact of COVID-19 hygienic measures on food choice and eating behaviour

Abstract

[Excerpt] The COVID-19 pandemic has led to several changes that have affected not only emotional and psychological well-being but also eating behavior. Herein, we sought to evaluate if depicting pandemic-related sanitary measures in a food consumption video would impact food appraisal, decreasing food attractiveness and the desire to eat. Participants performed, on two different days, an online protocol in which foods presented in a video, and following, in pictures, were evaluated regarding visual aspect, expected smell and taste, and desire to eat. The videos presented each day differed only regarding the presence/absence of sanitary elements adopted during the pandemic, composing COVID/non-COVID conditions. [...]