A citizen walks by a restaurant in Seoul in this file photo taken on April 10, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a notable shift in dietary habits, with a significant drop in dining out and a surge in the consumption of dietary supplements and delivery food, according to a report from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released on Thursday.
The report, entitled “Continuation of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Changes in Dietary Habits”, analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spanning from 2012 to 2019, as well as data from 2020 and 2021.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the frequency of dining out out more than once a day has notably decreased among both men and women.
Before the pandemic, 40 percent of men ate out at least once a day, but this figure dropped to 35.8 percent in 2020 and 31.7 percent in 2021.
Women, on the other hand, saw a steady increase to 20 percent just before the onset of the pandemic, but this trend reversed to 16.7 percent in 2020 and 15.5 percent in 2021.
Notably, the use of dietary supplements, such as vitamins, was already on the rise even before the pandemic.
However, the pandemic has accelerated this trend, with the percentage of men taking dietary supplements rising from 52.3 percent in 2019 to 63 percent in 2021, and the percentage of women increasing from 62.4 percent in 2019 to 74.3 percent in 2021.
Furthermore, in 2021, the proportion of people who consumed more than one meal per day from a delivery or takeout restaurant was 24.2 percent for both men and women.
This was a noticeable increase from 2019, where the percentage was 16.8 percent for men and 21.6 percent for women.
Interestingly, the study found that men aged 19 to 29 exhibited a more significant shift in their dietary habits during the first and second years of the pandemic compared to other age groups.
This group showed a marked increase in both the frequency of dietary supplement usage and reliance on delivery food.
Despite these changes, there were no significant alterations in the prevalence of breakfast skipping or excess energy and fat intake before and after the pandemic.
The researchers recommended the continued monitoring of dietary changes in the Korean population during the pandemic and as society gradually returns to normal.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
