Consumer behavior in confinement times: Food choice and cooking attitudes in Spain

Abstract

The present study provides an overview of the food related behavior of the Spanish population during the confinement period due to the Covid-19 sanitary emergency. A national survey was responded by 600 volunteers, who answered questions related to food consumption, home-food and cooking related habits (F&C), and the Spanish version of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. In general, most consumers could be considered “External eaters”; F&C questionnaire allowed segmenting the population in “low-cooking engagement”, “health -concerned” and “health-disregarded” groups. These consumers’ segments reported different behavior, highlighting, for example, the increase of snacks and ultra-processed food consumption of the health-disregarded group.