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

Reema Tayyem; Mohammed O Ibrahim; Hussein Mortada; Majid AlKhalaf; Khlood Bookari; Haleama Al Sabbah; Radwan Qasrawi; Iman Kamel; Somaia Dashti; Sabika Allehdan; Hiba Bawadi; Mostafa Waly; Haya Abuhijleh; Fadwa Hammouh; Narmeen Al-Awwad; Nahla Al-Bayyari; Leila Cheikh Ismail; Diala Abu Al-Halawa; Manal Othman; Regional CORONA COOKING Survey Group; Maha Hoteit

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1029219

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

Front Public Health. 2022 Oct 28:10:1029219. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1029219. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Reema Tayyem^{1

2}, Mohammed O Ibrahim³, Hussein Mortada⁴, Majid AlKhalaf⁵, Khlood Bookari^{5

6}, Haleama Al Sabbah⁷, Radwan Qasrawi^{8

9}, Iman Kamel¹⁰, Somaia Dashti¹¹, Sabika Allehdan¹², Hiba Bawadi¹, Mostafa Waly¹³, Haya Abuhijleh¹, Fadwa Hammouh¹⁴, Narmeen Al-Awwad¹⁵, Nahla Al-Bayyari¹⁶, Leila Cheikh Ismail^{17

18}, Diala Abu Al-Halawa¹⁹, Manal Othman¹; Regional CORONA COOKING Survey Group; Maha Hoteit^{20

21

22

23}

Collaborators

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University (QU)-Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
² Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
³ Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Mu'tah University, Karak, Jordan.
⁴ Faculty of Science IV, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁵ National Nutrition Committee, Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Health Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
⁸ Department of Computer Science, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine.
⁹ Department of Computer Engineering, Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey.
¹⁰ National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
¹¹ Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
¹² Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Bahrain, Zallaq, Bahrain.
¹³ Food Science and Nutrition Department, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
¹⁴ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Health Sciences Faculty, American University of Madaba, Madaba, Jordan.
¹⁵ Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan.
¹⁶ Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Al-Huson University College, Al-Balqa Applied University, As-Salt, Jordan.
¹⁷ Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁸ Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
¹⁹ Department of Faculty of Medicine, Al Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine.
²⁰ Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
²¹ PHENOL Research Group (Public Health Nutrition Program Lebanon), Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebano.
²² Lebanese University Nutrition Surveillance Center, Lebanese Food Drugs and Chemical Administrations, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
²³ University Medical Center, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.

Abstract

Background: 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.

Methods: 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.

Results: 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.

Conclusions: 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.

Keywords: Arab countries; COVID-19 pandemic; body mass index; dietary diversity; overweight; sex.

Copyright © 2022 Tayyem, Ibrahim, Mortada, AlKhalaf, Bookari, Al Sabbah, Qasrawi, Kamel, Dashti, Allehdan, Bawadi, Waly, Abuhijleh, Hammouh, Al-Awwad, Al-Bayyari, Cheikh Ismail, Abu Al-Halawa, Othman, The Regional CORONA COOKING Survey Group and Hoteit.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Arabs
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Overweight / epidemiology
Pandemics*
Self Report
Young Adult