Cargando…

Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, a state of emergency was declared to control the devastating impact of coronavirus, leading to temporary school closures in Japan, meaning that school lunches were not provided to the majority of schoolchildren. Using questionnaires completed by participants’ guardians, we examined the rela...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Horikawa, Chika, Murayama, Nobuko, Kojima, Yui, Tanaka, Hisako, Morisaki, Naho
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8400237/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444904
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu13082743
_version_ 1783745268134445056
author Horikawa, Chika
Murayama, Nobuko
Kojima, Yui
Tanaka, Hisako
Morisaki, Naho
author_facet Horikawa, Chika
Murayama, Nobuko
Kojima, Yui
Tanaka, Hisako
Morisaki, Naho
author_sort Horikawa, Chika
collection PubMed
description In 2020, a state of emergency was declared to control the devastating impact of coronavirus, leading to temporary school closures in Japan, meaning that school lunches were not provided to the majority of schoolchildren. Using questionnaires completed by participants’ guardians, we examined the relationship between household income and the quality of meals in Japanese schoolchildren before, during, and after the state of emergency. Participants (1111 children, 10–14 years old) were chosen to form a nationally representative sample of the Japanese population. “Well-balanced dietary intake” was defined as the intake of (i) meat, fish, or eggs and (ii) vegetables. The desired prevalence was defined as equal to or more than twice a day. Household income was divided into quartiles. “Well-balanced dietary intake” was lower in all households during the state of emergency compared with before. The proportion of those with a “well-balanced dietary intake” at least twice a day was notably low in both Q3 and Q4 during the state of emergency compared with before the declared state of emergency; relative risk increase (95% CI) were Q1: −19.0% (−19.6% to −18.4%), p < 0.001, Q2: −21.3% (−22.1% to −20.6%) p < 0.001, Q3: −25.4% (−26.1% to −24.7%), p < 0.001, and Q4: −34.8% (−35.6% to −34.0%), p < 0.001. The interaction p (vs. Q1) of Q2, Q3, and Q4 were all <0.001. Guardians from low-income households had significantly higher rates of having less: time, psychological room, and financial position to prepare meals during the state of emergency. Our results suggest that schoolchildren’s quality of meals worsened during the state of emergency, especially in low-income households, because school lunches were not provided.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8400237
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-84002372021-08-29 Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic Horikawa, Chika Murayama, Nobuko Kojima, Yui Tanaka, Hisako Morisaki, Naho Nutrients Article In 2020, a state of emergency was declared to control the devastating impact of coronavirus, leading to temporary school closures in Japan, meaning that school lunches were not provided to the majority of schoolchildren. Using questionnaires completed by participants’ guardians, we examined the relationship between household income and the quality of meals in Japanese schoolchildren before, during, and after the state of emergency. Participants (1111 children, 10–14 years old) were chosen to form a nationally representative sample of the Japanese population. “Well-balanced dietary intake” was defined as the intake of (i) meat, fish, or eggs and (ii) vegetables. The desired prevalence was defined as equal to or more than twice a day. Household income was divided into quartiles. “Well-balanced dietary intake” was lower in all households during the state of emergency compared with before. The proportion of those with a “well-balanced dietary intake” at least twice a day was notably low in both Q3 and Q4 during the state of emergency compared with before the declared state of emergency; relative risk increase (95% CI) were Q1: −19.0% (−19.6% to −18.4%), p < 0.001, Q2: −21.3% (−22.1% to −20.6%) p < 0.001, Q3: −25.4% (−26.1% to −24.7%), p < 0.001, and Q4: −34.8% (−35.6% to −34.0%), p < 0.001. The interaction p (vs. Q1) of Q2, Q3, and Q4 were all <0.001. Guardians from low-income households had significantly higher rates of having less: time, psychological room, and financial position to prepare meals during the state of emergency. Our results suggest that schoolchildren’s quality of meals worsened during the state of emergency, especially in low-income households, because school lunches were not provided. MDPI 2021-08-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8400237/ /pubmed/34444904 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu13082743 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Horikawa, Chika
Murayama, Nobuko
Kojima, Yui
Tanaka, Hisako
Morisaki, Naho
Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short Changes in Selected Food Groups Consumption and Quality of Meals in Japanese School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort changes in selected food groups consumption and quality of meals in japanese school children during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8400237/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444904
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu13082743
work_keys_str_mv AT horikawachika changesinselectedfoodgroupsconsumptionandqualityofmealsinjapaneseschoolchildrenduringthecovid19pandemic
AT murayamanobuko changesinselectedfoodgroupsconsumptionandqualityofmealsinjapaneseschoolchildrenduringthecovid19pandemic
AT kojimayui changesinselectedfoodgroupsconsumptionandqualityofmealsinjapaneseschoolchildrenduringthecovid19pandemic
AT tanakahisako changesinselectedfoodgroupsconsumptionandqualityofmealsinjapaneseschoolchildrenduringthecovid19pandemic
AT morisakinaho changesinselectedfoodgroupsconsumptionandqualityofmealsinjapaneseschoolchildrenduringthecovid19pandemic