Convenience Food Options and Adequacy of Nutrient Intake among School Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes in the family food environment, resulting in more families relying on convenience food options. This study aimed to investigate diet quality by convenience food options (namely instant, frozen, and take-out foods) among Japanese school children during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the relationship between the frequency of consumption of convenience food options and nutritional status of the school children. The participants (671 children, 10-14 years old) were chosen to form a nationally representative sample of the Japanese population. Using questionnaires completed by the participants' guardians, information was collected on the frequency of instant, frozen, and take-out food consumption. Habitual food and nutrient intake were collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire, completed by the children with help from their guardian(s). "Frequent" consumption was defined as consumption of instant, frozen, and/or take-out foods on more than 5 days per week. Using 19 nutrients and their respective dietary reference intake (DRI) values, an index was created to label each child's nutrient intake as "Adequate", "Inadequate", "Excess", or "Deficient." Compared to children with non-frequent consumption, school children with frequent instant food consumption had significantly higher rates of inadequate nutrient intake (risk ratio (RR) = 3.0 [95% CI: 1.6-5.6]) and excess nutrient intake (RR = 2.3 [95% CI: 1.3-4.2]), while school children with frequent take-out food consumption had significantly higher rates of inadequate nutrient intake (RR = 2.1 [95% CI: 1.3-3.3]). There were no significant differences for children with frequent frozen-food intake. These associations did not change when adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Our results suggest that the frequent consumption of instant or take-out foods among school children results in non-adequate nutritional intake.