COVID-19 Epidemic-Induced Changes of Dietary Intake of Iran Population During Lockdown Period: The Study Protocol National Food and Nutrition Surveillance

The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown has multifaceted effects on people’s life including fall in economy which may affect food choices. This study was designed to evaluate changes in dietary intakes of the Iranian households during COVID-19 lockdown and also to predict the consequent health impacts.

This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study is conducted using a web-based electronic self-administered questionnaire. A previously developed platform is applied to develop the electronic questionnaire. A web link is created (https://digit.rabit.info/s/2ZRaVKMB.html) and the questionnaire is uploaded. An official letter from the Community Nutrition Office of the Ministry of Health is sent to the vice-chancellor in health affairs and the Community Nutrition Offices of the medical universities of all provinces. In that letter, the objectives of the study and the related link are explained and the provincial health and nutrition workers are requested to encourage the community under their service coverage to participate in the study through completing the questionnaire. In addition, the questionnaire link is distributed massively to all popular social media networks such as Telegram and WhatsApp.

Because of pandemic lockdown and consequent economic changes, it is expected that expensive food items, notably animal protein sources including meat, fish and poultry, to be less consumed. Be that as it may, the important questions are firstly what are the alternatives of these food items? and secondly what are the potential health consequences of these dietary shifts? This national survey will clarify the answers.