Perceived Stress and Increased Food Consumption during the ‘Third Wave’ of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain
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Sánchez Sánchez, Eduardo; Jiménez Díaz, María José; Rosety, Ignacio; Muñoz Alférez, María José; Díaz, Antonio Jesús; Rosety, Miguel Ángel; Ordonez, Francisco Javier; Rosety Rodríguez, ManuelEditorial
MDPI
Materia
COVID-19 pandemic Food consumption Perceived stress Perceived Stress Scale
Date
2021Referencia bibliográfica
Sánchez-Sánchez, E.; Díaz-Jimenez, J.; Rosety, I.; Alférez, M.J.M.; Díaz, A.J.; Rosety, M.A.; Ordonez, F.J.; Rosety-Rodriguez, M. Perceived Stress and Increased Food Consumption during the ‘Third Wave’ of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain. Nutrients 2021, 13, 2380. https:// doi.org/10.3390/nu13072380
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of people worldwide. An
increase in perceived stress can lead to unhealthy behaviors such as increased food consumption.
The aim of this study was to find the level of perceived stress and its relationship with increased
food consumption during the “third wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. This was a crosssectional study that employed anonline self-reported frequency of consumption questionnaire and
the Perceived Stress Scale-10. A total of 637 subjects participated and 83.6% of respondents had
moderate or high stress—more prevalent in the female and young respondents. Moreover, 36.1% of
respondents reported that they had increased the frequency of consumption of some foods, mainly
nuts, snacks, and jellybeans, along with coffee, tea, cocoa, and soft drinks. Eating between meals was
more pronounced in those with high stress (65.1%) than in those with moderate stress (40.4%) and
low stress (20.2%). Furthermore, the respondents with high stress reported greater weight gain. Thus,
the results show that the level of perceived stress during the ‘third wave’ of this pandemic increased
food consumption.