Socio-ecological factors linked with changes in adults' dietary intake in Los Angeles County during the peak of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic.

Objective: Comprehensive studies examining longitudinal predictors of dietary change during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic are lacking. Based on an ecological framework, this study used longitudinal data to test if individual, social and environmental factors predicted change in dietary intake during the peak of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic in Los Angeles County and examined interactions among the multilevel predictors.

Design: We analysed two survey waves (e.g. baseline and follow-up) of the Understanding America Study, administered online to the same participants 3 months apart. The surveys assessed dietary intake and individual, social, and neighbourhood factors potentially associated with diet. Lagged multilevel regression models were used to predict change from baseline to follow-up in daily servings of fruits, vegetables and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Setting: Data were collected in October 2020 and January 2021, during the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Los Angeles County.

Participants: 903 adults representative of Los Angeles County households.

Results: Individuals who had depression and less education or who identified as non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic reported unhealthy dietary changes over the study period. Individuals with smaller social networks, especially low-income individuals with smaller networks, also reported unhealthy dietary changes. After accounting for individual and social factors, neighbourhood factors were generally not associated with dietary change.

Conclusions: Given poor diets are a leading cause of death in the USA, addressing ecological risk factors that put some segments of the community at risk for unhealthy dietary changes during a crisis should be a priority for health interventions and policy.