Objectives: This study aimed to assess dietary intake and lifestyle habits followed during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, as well as the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), among a sample of the Lebanese population.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the government-enforced lockdown. A validated, online, questionnaire was used to collect information about dietary and lifestyle habits. The Mediterranean diet adherence screener (MEDAS) was used to assess adherence to the MD.
Results: A total of 1684 participants responded to the survey. Their mean age was 23.92 ± 7.62 years, and 70.4% were females. Approximately a third of the participants reported that their dietary habits did not change and 42.3% acknowledged that their eating habits deteriorated during the lockdown. Participants smoked less and slept more during the lockdown compared to before it. Approximately 19.2% of the sample reported low adherence to the MD whereas 63.9% and 16.9% described moderate and high adherence respectively. Only age was significantly associated with higher MD adherence.
Conclusion: Dietary intake and MD adherence were suboptimal during the COVID-19 lockdown among the sample of the Lebanese population. It is critical that the Lebanese government implements public health programs in order to promote awareness about the importance of adhering to a healthy lifestyle and making appropriate dietary and lifestyle choices.
Copyright: © 2023 Haidar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.