Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
Frontiers in Public Health
Publication Date
10-28-2022
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic along with its confinement period boosted lifestyle modifications and impacted women and men differently which exacerbated existing gender inequalities. The main objective of this paper is to assess the gender-based differentials in food consumption patterns, dietary diversity and the determinants favoring weight change before and amid the COVID-19 pandemic among Arab men and women from 10 Arab countries. A cross-sectional study was conducted based on a convenience sample of 12,447 households' family members (mean age: 33.2 ± 12.9; 50.1% females) and information from participants aged 18 years and above was collected about periods before and during the pandemic. Findings showed that, during the COVID-19 period, the dietary diversity, declined by 1.9% among females compared to males (0.4%) (p < 0.001) and by 1.5% among overweight participants (p < 0.001) compared to their counterparts. To conclude, gender-sensitive strategies and policies to address weight gain and dietary diversity during emergent shocks and pandemics are urgently needed in the region.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Volume
10
First Page
1029219
Last Page
1029219
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, dietary diversity, Arab countries, sex, body mass index, overweight
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Tayyem, Reema; Ibrahim, Mohammed O.; Mortada, Hussein; AlKhalaf, Majid; Bookari, Khlood; Al Sabbah, Haleama; Qasrawi, Radwan; Kamel, Iman; Dashti, Somaia; Allehdan, Sabika; Bawadi, Hiba; Waly, Mostafa; Abuhijleh, Haya; Hammouh, Fadwa; Al-Awwad, Narmeen; Al-Bayyari, Nahla; Ismail, Leila Cheikh; Abu Al-Halawa, Diala; Othman, Manal; Group, The Regional CORONA COOKING Survey; Hoteit, Maha; De Backer, Charlotte; Teunissen, Lauranna; Van Royen, Kathleen; Cuykx, Isabelle; Decorte, Paulien; Ouvrein, Gaëlle; Poels, Karolien; Vandebosch, Heidi; and Maldoy, Katrien, "Sex disparities in food consumption patterns, dietary diversity and determinants of self-reported body weight changes before and amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 10 Arab countries" (2022). All Works. 5447.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/5447
Indexed in Scopus
no
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series