Eating habits during the health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic in adults in Lima, Peru

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic has generated changes in the lifestyle and eating habits of the population, being essential to maintain an adequate nutritional status to affront infections, it is necessary to investigate the eating habits maintained by the adult population who turned out to be the population group most affected by the coronavirus disease. Objective: to determine the eating habits of adults over 18 years of age during the state of emergency due to COVID-19 in an urbanization in Lima-Peru. Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 262 adults belonging to an urbanization located in Lima, Peru. A Likert scale questionnaire was used to assess eating habits through a survey. Results: a daily consumption was identified at a frequency of more than seven times a week of cereals and tubers in the sample. Similarly, the consumption of beverages such as coffee, soda and tea were frequent in 29.4% of the population, evidencing a high caloric intake. There was a prevalence of inadequate eating habits in 58.8% of the population during the covid-19 pandemic in 2022. Regarding sociodemographic characteristics, the predominant sex in the population was female, the age group with the highest incidence of adults was between the ages of 18 and 44 years, the vast majority reported being single and the great part of the population kept a casual job. Conclusions: We found that more than half of adults maintain an inadequate diet, this may be a predisposing factor to malnutrition in the population. It is hoped that the present study will be useful for future nutritional research.