Nutrition-related Knowledge and Behaviour and Financial Difficulties during the COVID-19 Quarantine in Saudi Arabia

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe global public health issue. Evaluating clinical readiness during a pandemic requires substantial awareness of public knowledge and the ability to predict behaviour when working with a highly pathogenic virus.

This study examined nutrition-related knowledge and behaviours and financial difficulties related to COVID-19 among adults in Saudi Arabia.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 968 participants via an online questionnaire focusing on demographics, nutrition-related knowledge regarding COVID-19, nutrition-related behaviours, and financial difficulties under COVID-19 quarantine.

Female participants showed higher scores in knowledge (3.15 ± 0.87) and nutrition-related behaviour (5.49 ± 1.2) during COVID-19. Those aged 40 to 49 years had the highest knowledge score, while older participants (>50) showed more adherence to positive nutrition-related behaviour (P < 0.0001 for both). Higher education indicated higher knowledge scores (3.4 2 ± 0.86; P = 0.001) but not behaviour scores. High-income participants had the highest knowledge score (3.29 ± 0.96; P = 0.001), while middle income participants had the highest behaviour scores (5.52 ± 1.23; P = 0.01). Low-income participants faced more difficulties with food source availability, compared to high-income participants.

This study’s results help in providing guidelines for planning and designing health education programmes for vulnerable groups.