Abstract
Background: In order to counter and control the spread of the new COVID-19 pandemic, at the beginning of March 2020, the Romanian government decided to apply strict isolation and quarantine measures. Objective: In the present study, we aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and isolation/quarantine at home on lifestyle and daily diet, and to identify changes caused by the pandemic related to the nutritional status and food preferences of the Romanian population. Material and Method: We conducted a prospective observational study based on a structured questionnaire that included 30 items for investigating multiple aspects regarding the dietary habits in the context of the pandemic, quarantine and social isolation imposed by the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The questionnaire was disseminated on various online platforms accessible from any device with an internet connection in Romania, on social media groups between January and March 2021. The questionnaire was made online, using the Google Forms platform, this method being very useful for carrying out the proposed evaluation, as it facilitated the national dissemination of the evaluation questionnaire. The final study group consisted of 620 respondents from 35 counties of Romania. Results: Regarding weight status, we found that the respondents showed significantly more frequent weight fluctuations during the pandemic than before (p <0.0001). The results showed an increase in the mean weight of the respondents during the pandemic vs. their mean weight before (p = 0.04). In contrast, there were no statistically significant differences between the BMI calculated before and during the pandemic (p = 0.3). Respondents, who had a chaotic diet (40.64%) before the pandemic, became significantly more organized in this regard during the pandemic (35.96%) (p = 0.008). Conclusions: We can state that the pandemic period and isolation at home analyzed in terms of eating habits had positive consequences for about half of the study participants which adopted an organized, diversified eating behavior and balanced lifestyle.