key: cord-0748961-g7agjsrq
authors: Menon, Lakshmi; Choudhury, Dripta Roy; Ronto, Rimante; Sengupta, Rupali; Kansal, Sangeeta; Rathi, Neha
title: Transformation in culinary behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: In-depth interviews with food gatekeepers in urban India
date: 2022-01-25
journal: Appetite
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.105948
sha: a3d205416a09c8c11ea7eea80264af37d5f89f10
doc_id: 748961
cord_uid: g7agjsrq

COVID-19 and its associated regulatory measures including lockdowns, curfews, and physical distancing norms have significantly affected individual's dietary and culinary behaviours. Although there is ample empirical evidence available on dietary changes within the Indian context, very limited evidence exists about the factors influencing these dietary modifications and changes in culinary behaviours during COVID-19 lockdown. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore the views of Indian household food gatekeepers towards meal planning, food purchasing, and meal preparation during the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. A convenience sample of 34 female gatekeepers from the Mumbai metropolis participated in online interviews. Interviews were conducted in English and Hindi (then translated in English), audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Underpinned by Template Analysis technique, transcribed data were analysed manually and using the NVivo software program. The interview structure guided the development of themes. The emerging themes included were: Increased household cooking; Involvement of children and male members in food-related activities; Experimentation in the kitchen; Adoption of meal planning skills; Increase in online food shopping; Bulk buying; Shortage of food items; Reduced consumption of outside home food; Increased variety of home-cooked meals; Increase in snacking and overall food intake; Determinants of food choices; and Family meals-a new norm. In the light of these findings, developing family-focussed, web-based nutrition programs to enhance gatekeepers' and their families' food literacy including declarative and procedural nutritional knowledge would be beneficial. The importance of organisational culinary behaviours such as planning meals in advance, shopping with a food list should be promoted to prevent hoarding and subsequently reduce strain on the food supply system. With a surge in domestic cooking, low cost nutritious recipes with the use of local and seasonal produce should be emphasized promoting healthy eating among the gatekeepers and their family members. The inclusion of food studies in the school curriculum will facilitate the development of culinary skills among children and youth. Also, there is a need for further research and surveillance to strengthen understanding of sustainability of healthy culinary behaviours practiced during the pandemic.

The World Health Organization in March 2020 declared the Coronavirus 62 outbreak as a global pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020). The Indian government 63 initiated a nation-wide lockdown as a counteractive measure from 25 th March 2020 to 31 st May 64 the interview any time (King, 2004a) . Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with the 151 data collection which assisted the researchers in determining data saturation (Patton, 1990) . 152 Data saturation was reached at 30 th interview as no new themes were reported. However, four 153 additional interviews were carried out to confirm saturation of themes. The duration of the 154 online discussions ranged from 12 minutes to 45 minutes. No gifts or inducements were 155 provided to the interviewees for their participation. 156 An interview guide (Table 1) questions, socio-demographic information on age, occupation, employment status, income, 160 number of family members living in the household was also sought from the interviewees. 161 Since, no modifications in the phrasing and deletions or additions were made in the interview 162 guide, the pre-tested data were merged with data derived from the full-scale study. derived from the interviewee accounts. Thereafter, the remaining transcripts were coded by 179 two investigators (LM & NR) and the pre-defined 'template' was further modified, refined, 180 and applied to the complete data set. Additionally, three professionals (one psychologist, one 181 home economist, and one dietician) independently analysed a subset of five transcripts to 182 confirm inter-rater reliability (Marques & McCall, 2005) . In case of any discrepancy, the 183 template was amended until a consensus was reached that the identified themes were On the other hand, there were some gatekeepers who were quite happy purchasing grocery 295 items and fresh produce via online shopping apps, as this gatekeeper reports: 296 "…Basically, we did try online shopping during lockdown because we didn't want to 297 go out…Definitely there was fear of infection... It was a nice experience to buy 298 vegetables and stuff online. We used to get fresh vegetables and door to door service. 299 The rates were also not that high as we expected." (P9, 4A, 1C) The fear of infection associated with the COVID crisis inhibited several participants 319 from ordering outside home food. The interviewees further acknowledged that home cooked 320 food was much healthier and hygienic than restaurant food. Nevertheless, they further reported 321 that they wanted to consume take away food but could not get it or order it. The constraints on 322 consuming outside food led to disappointment particularly among the children and adolescents 323 within the household. However, our interviewees efficiently tackled this disappointment by 324 preparing restaurant-like food at home, therefore, satisfying the tastebuds of their younger ones.

The following quote, as an example of this: This was a very nice experience and we enjoyed it to our fullest. We were eating all 391 meals in the day together. We enjoyed a lot…" (P18, 5A) 

Increase in snacking and overall food intake "Snacking increased terribly!!! Basically, munching increased. I mean let's have something since we are just sitting. If we are occupied with something, we tend to not to feel hungry. Since, everyone was free at home, we used to play cards, and so we needed something for munching continuously, like popcorn, nachos, packaged food etc…" (P9, 4A, 1C) "Yes, during the lockdown the need for everything had increased twice, like earlier snacks were made only once a day, but then since everybody was at home and everybody was hungry, so we had to prepare more snacks…" (P6, 5A, 1C) "I tried so many new items so food consumption would have definitely increased as compared to earlier…" (P7, 3A, 2C) "…Meal portion had also increased…Yes…Yes…we were eating more…the quantity increased." (P26, 4A)

Health and immunity: "By extra immunity boosters, I mean we were eating more salads, using more lemons…means in the form of lemon juice or lemon sherbet (cordial)…Secondly, we reduced spicy foods and avoided refined flour products like breads and other items." (P21, 4A, 1C) "…Since there wasn't any physical exercise, I thought of preparing healthy stuff. I ensured not to use any refined wheat flour, sugar in cooking... The dosas (a pancake prepared with rice and pulse batter) which I used to prepare with rice have been completely replaced with ragi (a millet with high calcium content) …" (P28, 3A, 1C) "Nowadays people are into fast food. I was the same but due to COVID I became health conscious and got into healthy eating like I started preparing and eating more veggies, fruits, green leafy vegetables and all…Junk food, oily (food high in fat) food, restaurant food was stopped, and we had as much homemade food as we could." (P14, 4A)

Family members' preferences and taste: "…But since everyone was at home during the lockdown, so cooking was based on everyone's desires…" (P17, 3A, 1C) Food availability: "…Whatever was available that was made" (P3, 3A, 1C) "According to whatever was available we used to prepare our meals." (P32, 5A) Family meals -a new norm "Before lockdown we used to eat together only on weekends as my son was in hostel and, daughter in college, but during the lockdown we ate all our meals together. We got a lot of family time... It was a blessing in disguise! I enjoyed that very much…" (P14, 4A) "We used to eat together; we were very happy. Because we rarely get a chance to do that. Earlier I had my office, girls were somewhere else, etc., so we rarely got the chance to eat together. So, it was cooking and eating together. We felt really nice." (P8, 4A) 

The majority of our participants reported an increase in meal planning behaviours, a 438 finding which was also highlighted in another qualitative study carried out in the Australian 439 context (Ronto et al., 2021) . They reported that during the pre-pandemic times, there used to 440 be instantaneous meal planning, but during the lockdown they were forced to plan their meals 441 due to restricted availability of food, and this, in some instances, led to healthier food choices. 

Our participants reported that they adopted online grocery shopping behaviours, since 549 This research inquiry provides some valuable insights on the Indian primary food 550 gatekeepers' experiences with regards to culinary behaviours during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The choice of selecting a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai has largely helped to understand the 552 culinary practices of persons with different cultural and regional backgrounds as our 

Considering the on-going pandemic and its associated restrictions as well as the qualitative 570 nature of our study, the use of convenience sampling was considered viable in the present 571 context.

Another limitation could be that the gatekeepers provided socially laudable responses. The 

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and immunity booster green 642 foods: A mini review

Understanding the Impact of COVID-645

Pandemic Outbreak on Grocery Stocking Behaviour in India: A Pattern Mining 646

Impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreak: lifestyle changes and public 649 health concerns in India

Impact of COVID-19 on Food 652 Behavior and Consumption in Qatar

Food 655 purchase and eating behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional 656 survey of Russian adults

The Impact of Lockdown During the 659 COVID-19 Outbreak on Dietary Habits in Various Population Groups: A Scoping 660

Neighbourhood fruit 663 and vegetable availability and consumption: the role of small food stores in an urban 664 environment

Food skills confidence and 667 household gatekeepers' dietary practices

COVID-19 and the Demand for Online Food 669 Shopping Services: Empirical Evidence from Taiwan 670

What determines real-world meal size? Evidence for pre-meal planning

Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A 712 Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development

Meal planning as a 716 strategy to support healthy eating

A review of 719 associations between family or shared meal frequency and dietary and weight status 720 outcomes across the lifespan

The impact of COVID-19 confinement on the eating habits and lifestyle 723 changes: A cross sectional study

Seven weeks of home-727 cooked meals: changes to New Zealanders' grocery shopping, cooking and eating 728 during the COVID-19 lockdown

Effects of nationwide 731 lockdown during COVID-19 epidemic on lifestyle and other medical issues of 732 patients with type 2 diabetes in north India

A global panel 737 database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)

Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Greater Average Meal Planning 745

Frequency Predicts Greater Weight Loss Outcomes in a Worksite-Based Behavioral 746

COVID-19 implications on household income and food security in Kenya and 750 Uganda: Findings from a rapid assessment

Updated BG prasad socioeconomic status 753 classification for the year 2021

Using interviews in qualitative research

Using templates in the thematic analysis of text

Online Shopping Motives during the 764 COVID-19 Pandemic-Lessons from the

Diet 767 quality is more strongly related to food skills rather than cooking skills confidence: 768 Results from a national cross-sectional survey

The determinants of food choice

Food availability, modeling and restriction: How are these different aspects of the 775 family eating environment related to adolescent dietary intake?

Consumer 778 behaviour during crises: preliminary research on how coronavirus has manifested 779 consumer panic buying, herd mentality, changing discretionary spending and the role 780 of the media in influencing behaviour

Sampling in qualitative research: Rationale, 783 issues, and methods

Do distant foods decrease 785 intake? The effect of food accessibility on consumption

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fish consumption and household food 789 security in Dhaka city

The application of interrater reliability as a 792 solidification instrument in a phenomenological study

What Does Food Retail Research Tell Us 795

About the Implications of Coronavirus (COVID-19) for Grocery Purchasing Habits? 796 Frontiers in Psychology

Is Living near Healthier Food Stores 798

Associated with Better Food Intake in Regional Australia? International journal of 799 environmental research and public health

Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research

Sampling, data collection and analysis

A review of studies published in India. Diabetes & 841 Metabolic Syndrome

Gatekeeper influence on food acquisition, 844 food preparation and family diet

Sampling in Interview-Based Qualitative Research: A Theoretical 847 and Practical Guide

COVID-19 & Culinary 850 Behaviours of Australian Household Food Gatekeepers: A Qualitative Study

Online food delivery: A competitor for Indian kitchens

Whatever happened to qualitative description? Research in Nursing 855 & Health

Exploring 857 panic buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: a developing country 858 perspective

Going Beyond Frequency: A Qualitative Study to Explore New Dimensions for the 862 Measurement of Family Meals