Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children’s Eating Patterns and Parents’ Anxiety Levels: A Multi- Center Study

Objectives:Our study aimed to evaluate the eating patterns of children as well as parental anxiety on virus transmission along with associated factors in the first month of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to compare the results to pre-epidemic patterns.Materials and Methods:This study was planned as a multi-center (n=8), cross-sectional study. Informed consent forms and questionnaires were sent to the parents of the children between the ages of 6 and 18 years who applied to the study centers and accepted study participation via e-mail or instant messaging applications.Results:During the study period, 893 children with a mean age of 11.1 years (standard deviation=3.4) were enrolled. More than half (50.7%, n=453) were girls. The majority of families reported no change in eating patterns of their children in the first month of the pandemic (63.6%, n=568). More than one-fifth (21.4%, n=191) reported an improvement in eating patterns while 15.0% reported worsening. A significant minority of parents (40.0%) reported feeling “very anxious” for potential risk of transmission to themselves or their children. Parents with higher levels of anxiety were significantly younger and had lower levels of education (p<0.001, p=0.001, respectively).Conclusion:The COVID-19 epidemic has affected both parents’ anxiety and children’s eating patterns. The association of younger parental age and lower levels of education with elevated levels of anxiety related to transmission risk may be important for protective interventions in mental health.