Are history of dietary intake and food habits of patients with clinical symptoms of COVID 19 different from healthy controls? A case-control study

Mohseni, Houra; Amini, Shirin; Abiri, Behnaz; Kalantar, Mojtaba; Kaidani, Masoumeh; Barati, Barat; Pirabbasi, Elham; Bahrami, Faezeh

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that put unprecedented significant strain on clinical services and healthcare systems. The aim of the present research was to assess dietary food groups and also food habits of patients with clinical symptoms of COVID 19 and healthy controls. Methods This case-control research was carried out on 505 participants (279 subjects with clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and 226 controls), in age 18 to 65 years. Dietary food group’s intake last year was investigated by a food frequency questionnaire. Food habits were asked by a general information questionnaire. The strength of the association between food group’s intakes with the odds ratios (ORs) of COVID-19 was assessed using Logistic regression models. Results After adjusting for physical activity in the logistic regression models, intake of dough and yogurt had a significantly protective role on occurrence of COVID19, (OR= 0.62; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.44-0.87; P= 0.006), (OR= 0.74; 95% CI = 0.56- 0.98; P= 0.044), respectively. No significant differences were seen in food habits between the two groups in the last years ago. Conclusions High risk population for COVID19, advised to consume enough amount of yogurt and dough at the time of this pandemic.