Feeding practices during the COVID-19 lockdown: is there a difference between stay-at-home mothers and work-from-home mothers?

This study aims to compare the feeding practices adopted by stay-at-home mothers and work-from-home mothers during the COVID-19 lockdown. Feeding practices were assessed using a 39-item validated Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ). The Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was used to determine the mean difference in feeding practices by maternal employment status after adjusting for the mother’s age and educational attainment and the child’s age and gender. The current study revealed that a noticeable proportion of mothers adopted feeding practices that encourage balance and variety (4.45 ± 0.62), promote a healthy environment (4.34 ± 0.81) and impose dietary restrictions for health (4.32 ± 1.04) during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the mean scores of feeding practices across maternal employment status, except for the emotion regulation and modelling subscales. Work-from-home mothers had a significantly higher mean score in the emotion regulation subscale than stay-at-home mothers (F = 14.892, P < 0.001). In comparison to work-from-home mothers, stay-at-home mothers had a significantly higher mean score in the modelling subscale during the COVID-19 pandemic (F = 4.163, P = 0.044). In conclusion, there was just a modest variation in the feeding practices adopted by stay-at-home mothers and work-from-home mothers in this unprecedented pandemic.