On Monday (11) the preliminary results of a study on the eating habits and behavior of Brazilians during the COVID-19 epidemic were released. The survey, conducted by four universities in Minas Gerais, showed that Brazilians, due to social distance, spend more time in front of small screens and sleep more, but reduce their ability to sleep. Doing physical activity.

The results compiled by the Federal Universities of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Lavras (Ufla), Ouro Preto (Ufop) and Viçosa (UFV) have been published in scientific journals. public health nutrition NS Frontiers in Nutrition. The overall goal of the research, which began about five months after social distancing measures began, was to investigate the changes that occurred in the habits of the Brazilian population in that period.

The methodology involved applying online questionnaires to 1,368 people of both sexes, aged 18 years, during August and September 2020. Most of the respondents live in the southeastern region of Brazil, and 80% of these individuals are women. A near-unanimous characteristic (97%) is the fact that they strictly comply with social distancing measures.

Source: public health nutrition

How did the Brazilians behave and feed themselves during the quarantine?

In a press release from UFMG, one of the study’s authors, food science doctoral student Tamiris de Sousa, said the research revealed ” Worst habits and lifestyleas well as in eating habits.

Regarding food, respondents reduced the regularity of breakfast, snack and lunch meals, which increased the number of snacks at night. The quality also worsened with increased consumption of bread, fast food and fast food. The use of alcoholic beverages is also becoming more common, as is the habit of smoking.

Additionally, exposure time to screens and devices increased from a daily average of six hours to ten hours during the pandemic. On the other hand, physical activity was reduced from 120 minutes per week before the pandemic to 80 minutes.