Italians’ Dietary Habits During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Results of the #PRESTOinsieme Study

OBJECTIVES: To assess dietary habits and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy, one of the European countries most severely affected by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The #PRESTOinsieme project is a web-based survey open to people over 16 years of age that started on the 20(th) of March 2020 in Italy. Survey respondents underwent a set of validated questionnaires to assess dietary habits and psychological well-being (depression and posttraumatic stress, using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, respectively) during the lockdown. RESULTS: Survey respondents were 5008, with a median age of 38 years. The female gender was the most prevalent (63%). Dietary habits were found to be associated with psychological well-being. People suffering from moderate/severe depression symptoms and posttraumatic stress were found to have more frequently foods high in fat and sugars compared to people with no/mild depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms (P-value 0.008). Furthermore, subjects with most severe depressive symptoms ate less frequently fruits (P-value < 0.001), vegetables (P-value 0.013), dried fruits (P-value < 0.001), and milk-based products. CONCLUSIONS: Present results showed a strict relationship between dietary habits and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. Such a relationship could be interpreted as emotional eating, which has been frequently reported during the lockdown, showing that depressed people are more prone to emotional eating habits. Present results claim the need to develop public programs of psychological support for the community during the lockdown and public health strategies targeting diet. FUNDING SOURCES: N/A