The Effect of COVID-19 on anxiety levels of mothers and changes in the nutritional behavior of their children

Yilmaz, Sine; Can, Basak

doi:10.1590/1678-9865202336e220211

Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Brasil

Español English

sumário « anterior atual seguinte »

Sumário

ORIGINAL | Clinical Nutrition • Rev Nutr 36 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9865202336e220211 copy

The Effect of COVID-19 on anxiety levels of mothers and changes in the nutritional behavior of their children

O efeito do COVID-19 nos níveis de ansiedade das mães e mudanças no comportamento nutricional de seus filhos

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Objective

This study aimed to measure the anxiety levels of mothers during the pandemic period and to investigate the correlation between anxiety levels and children’s eating behaviors in Turkey.

Methods

Mothers with children aged 3-6 years (n=303) living in Turkey were recruited from different social media channels until February and March 2021 due to the pandemic. Mothers completed an online questionnaire that included the Child Feeding Questionnaire, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale. Pearson correlation analysis and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied to determine the existing relationship between the scales.

Results

Although 21.2% of mothers had moderate and severe anxiety, only 0.3% of mothers had coronavirus anxiety. No significant correlation was found between any of the Child Feeding Questionnaire subscales and anxiety levels evaluated according to Beck Anxiety Inventory. Only a correlation was observed between the Beck Anxiety Inventory score and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale score (r=0.47, p<0.001).

Conclusion

Although coronavirus anxiety was found in a small group in our study, more comprehensive studies are needed to see the effect of the anxiety created by the pandemic on child nutrition. Considering that human beings will face various pandemics in the coming years, the negative effects of the pandemic on the individual should be determined and precautions should be taken. In this way, it can be ensured that future generations are healthy in all aspects.

Keywords
Anxiety; Children; Coronavirus; Feeding Methods

Variables		Mean±SD	n	Percent
Childs’ and mothers’ characteristics
	Child age (y)	5.6±5
	Child height (cm)	116.5±23.2
	Child weight (kg)	24.5±11.3
	Maternal age (y)	35.3±5.2
Number of Children
	1		132	43.6
	2		125	41.3
	≥3		46	15.2
Maternal Education
	Primary school		18	5.9
	Common School		11	3.6
	High School		55	18.2
	University		178	58.7
	Postgraduate		41	13.5
Can you evaluate your diet? (Evaluate in terms of being healthy)
	Too bad		4	1.3
	Bad		16	5.3
	Middle		117	38.6
	Good		137	45.2
	Very good		29	9.6
Is anyone around you diagnosed with COVID?
	Yes		199	65.7
	No		104	34.3
Questionnaires		Median±SD	n	Percent
CAS		0±1.8
	No anxiety disorder		302	99.7
	Anxiety disorder		1	0.3
BAI		6±9.9
	No anxiety		169	55.8
	Mild anxiety		70	23.1
	Moderate anxiety		39	12.9
	Severe anxiety		25	8.3
CFQ Score
	Perceived responsibility	10±2.6
	Perceived family body weight	8±2.5
	Perceived child body weight	6±1.3
	Interest in childs’ body weight	8±2.6
	Restriction and eating pressure	32±10.4
	Follow-up	12±2.4

Perceived responsibility (%)	Never	Rare	Sometimes	Often	Always
When your child is at home, how often do you feel responsible for feeding them?	2.0	5.3	12.5	20.5	59.7
How often do you feel responsible when deciding whether your child eats the right foods?	1.0	4.6	11.2	25.4	57.8
How often do you feel responsible when deciding on the portion size your child eats?	3.3	11.9	17.5	23.4	43.9
Perceived family body weight	Skinny	Underweight	Normal	Overweight	Obese
In your childhood	10.2	25.4	56.8	6.9	0.7
In your adolescence (12-19 years)	7.3	20.8	53.5	16.5	2.0
In your 20s	26.7	-	60.1	11.9	1.3
You now	1.0	6.3	53.1	32.7	6.9
Perceived child body weight	Skinny	Underweight	Normal	Overweight	Obese
Your child’s weight between 0-1 years	3.3	11.9	67.7	16.5	0.7
Your child’s weight when they start walking	2.0	10.9	80.2	6.6	0.3
Your child’s (current) weight in pre-school period	1.7	9.9	77.6	10.2	0.7
Interest about child body weight	Indifferent	A little indifferent	Interested	Quite interested	Very interested
How concerned are you with your child eating too much when he or she is away?	1.7	8.3	45.9	24.1	20.10
How concerned are you with diet so that your child can maintain their weight?	1.7	4.6	39.6	27.7	26.4
How concerned are you with your child’s obesity?	3.0	6.6	37.6	25.7	27.1.
Restriction and eating pressure	Not agree	A little disagree	Indecisive	Slightly agree	Agree
I have to make sure my child doesn’t eat too much sweets (candy, ice cream, chocolate, cake, etc.)	4.3	8.9	3.3	16.5	67.0
Perceived responsibility (%)	Never	Rare	Sometimes	Often	Always
Restriction and eating pressure	Not agree	A little disagree	Indecisive	Slightly agree	Agree
I have to make sure my child does not overeat foods with high fat content	4.3	6.3	2.6	17.5	69.3
I have to make sure that my child does not overeat the foods she/he likes	7.9	8.9	8.9	23.1	51.2
I deliberately keep some foods away from my child’s reach.	8.9	5.0	3.6	18.5	64.0
I offer candies (candy, ice cream, cake, etc.) to my child as a reward for good behavior	33.7	13.9	7.9	22.4	22.1.
In exchange for good behavior, I offer my child the food she/he likes	24.4	13.2	12.2	26.1	24.1.
If I don’t organize my child’s diet or guide her/him, my child eats too much junk food	16.5	8.3	9.2	13.9	52.1.
If I don’t organize my child’s diet or guide her/him, my child eats her favorite foods too much.	17.2	8.6	8.9	16.8	48.5
My child should always eat all the food on their plate.	29.0	12.9	10.6	23.8	23.8
I have to be particularly careful to make sure my child eats enough	10.9	13.2	10.2	20.8	44.9
Although my child says that she/he is not hungry, I insist that she/he eat	44.6	14.2	8.9	18.2	14.2
If I don’t organize my child’s food or guide her/him, my child eats less than necessary	28.7	9.2	10.9	18.5	32.7
Follow-up	Never	Rare	Sometimes	Often	Always
How long do you keep track of the sugary foods (candy, chocolate, cake, etc.) your child consumes?	1.0	3.3	8.3	31.7	55.8
How long do you keep track of the snack foods (chips etc.) your child consumes?	0.7	2.6	7.3	29.4	60.1.
How much do you keep track of the excessively fatty foods your child consumes?	1.7	2.6	9.6	30.4	55.8

Variables	BAI Score	CAS Score	CFQ Total score
Total score	p=0.3	p=0.2
BAI Score	-	r=0.47^ p<0.001 Table showing Spearman correlations (r) and associated p-values. (<0.001)	r=0.5 (p=0.3)
CAS Score	r=0.47^ p<0.001 Table showing Spearman correlations (r) and associated p-values. (<0.001)	-	r=0.6 (p=0.2)
CFQ	r=0.5	r=0.6	-

Variables	No anxiety disorder	Mild anxiety	Moderate anxiety	Severe anxiety	p-value
Coronavirus Anxiety Scale	0.3±1	1.2±1.7	2.3±2	2.6±3.5	<0.001
Child Feeding Questionnaire	70.8±15.5	72.4±9.1	71.8±12.5	77±12.8	0.1
Perceived responsibility	9.3±2.9	10.1±2	9.2±2.6	10.3±2.3	0.1
Perceived family body weight	7.1±2.5	7.8±2.4	8.1±2.6	7.6±2.8	0.0
Perceived child body weight	5.9±1.1	5.9±1.3	5.7±1.7	5.6±1.6	0.9
Interest in child’s body weight	7.8±2.6	8.1±2.5	7.61±2.73	8.5±2.6	.00
Restriction and eating pressure	30.4±11.7	30.07±7.3	31.1±9.2	34.8±9.8	0.1
Follow-up	10.2±2.5	10.30±2	9.9±2.3	10.1±2.4	0.7

Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas Núcleo de Editoração SBI - Campus II , Av. John Boyd Dunlop, s/n. - Prédio de Odontologia, 13059-900 Campinas - SP Brasil, Tel./Fax: +55 19 3343-6875 - Campinas - SP - Brazil
E-mail: sbi.submissionrn@puc-campinas.edu.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Correspondence to: S YILMAZ. E-mail: sine.yilmaz@ankaramedipol.edu.tr.