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Grant support

We acknowledge the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) which provided MCBM a productivity fellowship and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) which granted OE-M a Ph.D. scholarship. The project developed in Spain was supported by the Program of R&D activities between research groups of the Community of Madrid in Social Sciences and Humanities, co-financed with the European Social Fund (H2019/HUM-5802).

Analysis of institutional authors

Lopez, KvAuthorMora-Urda, AiAuthor

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June 28, 2021
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Article

Diet and Lifestyle Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ibero-American Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Spain

Publicated to:Front Nutr. 8 671004- - 2021-06-02 8(), DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2021.671004

Authors: Enriquez-Martinez, Oscar G; Martins, Marcia C T; Pereira, Taisa S S; Pacheco, Sandaly O S; Pacheco, Fabio J; Lopez, Karen V; Huancahuire-Vega, Salomon; Silva, Daniela A; Mora-Urda, Ana I; Rodriguez-Vasquez, Mery; Montero Lopez, M Pilar; Molina, Maria C B

Affiliations

Adv Univ Chile, Master Sci Human Motr, Chillan, Chile - Author
Univ Adv Plata, Inst Food Sci & Nutr, Entre Rios, Argentina - Author
Univ Adv Plata, Sch Med & Hlth Sci, Ctr Hlth Sci Res, Entre Rios, Argentina - Author
Univ Americas Puebla, Dept Hlth Sci, Cholula, Mexico - Author
Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Biol, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Fed Espirito Santo, Dept Integrated Hlth Educ, Vitoria, ES, Brazil - Author
Univ Fed Espirito Santo, Hlth Sci Ctr, Publ Hlth Program, Vitoria, Brazil - Author
Univ Fed Ouro Preto, Hlth & Nutr Program, Ouro Preto, Brazil - Author
Univ Peruana Union, Sch Human Med, Fac Hlth Sci, Dept Basic Sci, Lima, Peru - Author
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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate changes in dietary and lifestyle habits during the period of confinement due to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ibero-American countries. A cross-sectional investigation was conducted with 6,325 participants of both genders (68% women), over 18 years of age and from five countries: Brazil (N = 2,171), Argentina (N = 1,111), Peru (N = 1,174), Mexico (N = 686), and Spain (N = 1,183). Data were collected during the year 2020, between April 01 and June 30 in Spain and between July 13 and September 26, in the other countries studied using a self-administered online survey designed for the assessment of sociodemographic, employment, physical activity, health status, and dietary habits changes. Most participants (61.6%), mainly those from Spain, remained constant, without improving or worsening their pattern of food consumption. Among those who changed, a pattern of better eating choices prevailed (22.7%) in comparison with those who changed toward less healthy choices (15.7%). Argentina and Brazil showed the highest proportion of changes toward a healthier pattern of food consumption. Peruvians and Mexicans were less likely to make healthy changes in food consumption (OR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.4-0.6 and OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.4-0.8, respectively), when compared to Argentinians. Most respondents did not change their pattern of meal consumption, but those who did reduced their consumption of main meals and increased intake of small meals and snacks. Although most participants affirmed to be doing physical activity at home, about one-half reported perception of weight gain. Individuals with alterations in sleep pattern (either by increasing or decreasing sleep time) were more likely to change their diets to a healthier pattern. In contrast, individuals with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 and those who reported feeling anxious were more likely to perform changes to a less healthy eating pattern (OR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3 and OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.1-1.4, respectively). In conclusion, although most participants remained constant in their eating habits, lifestyle changes and anxiety feelings were reported. Among those who changed patterns of food consumption, healthier choices prevailed, with differences between countries. However, there were alterations in the distribution of meals, with higher consumption of snacks and small meals. These results can be used to guide policies to prevent deleterious consequences that may affect the incidence of chronic diseases.

Keywords

confinementcovid-19diete-surveylifestyleAdultsBreakfastConfinementCovid-19DietDiseaseE-surveyEnergyHabitsHealthImpactLifestyleObesityPandemicPhysical-activityRisk-factors

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Front Nutr due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 16/90, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Nutrition & Dietetics.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 5.21. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 6.06 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 19.38 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-16, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 53
  • Scopus: 66
  • Europe PMC: 35

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-16:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 251.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 282 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 12.75.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 10 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://repositorio.uam.es/handle/10486/699854

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Mexico; Peru.

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been López, MPM.