Adults' Behaviors in Food Preferences, Perceived Stress Situations, and Influencing Factors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: It was aimed to examine the behaviors of adults in food preferences and to determine the factors affecting the perceived stress situations of adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This descriptive study was conducted as an e-survey in Turkey with 372 adults aged 40-64 years after the second closure. Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, 59.1% of the group did not shop for food with any orders. In this process, the most preferred foods are eggs (86.3%), meat and meat products (85.8%), milk and dairy products (85.5%), fresh vegetables (84.4%) and fresh fruit (83.3%). 58.9% of the participants do not want to shop in crowded places such as markets and bazaars. It was determined that 79.6% of them were worried about the increase in food prices, 78.8% of them bought food with panic, and 90.1% of them stocked up on food. The most stocked foods during the COVID-19 pandemic were legumes (58.9%) and cereals (52.2%). 38.7% of the participants stated that the concern about adequate food availability and 27.7% of them stated that the concern about food safety has increased. It was determined that the PSS total score averages of the participants who made panic purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic (p=0.018) and who had increased food safety concerns (p=0.000) were higher. Participants with increased awareness of food waste (p=0.003), food preparation behavior at home (p=0.024), concern for adequate food availability (p=0.034) and food safety concerns (p=0.000) had low insufficient self-efficacy sub-dimension mean scores. During the COVID-19 pandemic process, the stress/discomfort sub-dimension score averages of the participants who shopped both on-site and on order (p=0.015), showed panicky buying behavior (p=0.000), had increased ordering behavior via the internet (p=0.002), had increased awareness of food waste (p=0.000), had increased food preparation behavior at home (p=0.000), was worried about adequate food availability (p=0.000), and had food safety concerns (p=0.000) were found to be high. Conclusion: Examining the behavior of food consumers in extraordinary situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic is important both in terms of health and social aspects and will facilitate the planning of food and economic policies. COVID-19, food stocking, food preference, perceived stress, food consumer behavior