Shifts in Food Security Awareness and Lifestyle Behaviors in Paraguay during COVID-19, December 2019 to December 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted various aspects of life globally, including dietary behaviors and lifestyles. This study aimed to analyze the influence of the pandemic on public interest in food security, dietary behaviors, immune-related nutrients and herbs, and outdoor/indoor lifestyles in Paraguay, using Google Trends data from December 2019 to December 2020. The relative search volumes for the selected search terms were obtained and correlated with COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related search terms using Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient. The results revealed a fair positive correlation between COVID-19-related searches and interest in food security and hygiene. Dietary behavior-related terms showed mixed correlations, with a negative correlation for "Yoga" and a positive correlation for "Hierro" (iron). Indoor lifestyle-related terms, such as "Netflix" and "Receta" (recipe), exhibited positive correlations with coronavirus-related searches, while outdoor lifestyle terms, including "Hotel," "Parque" (park), and "Resort," showed very strong negative correlations. Immune-related nutrients and herbs, particularly "Cebolla" (onion) and "Curcuma" (turmeric), demonstrated strong to moderate positive correlations with COVID-19-related terms. These findings suggest that the pandemic has influenced public interest in various aspects of dietary behaviors and lifestyles in Paraguay, highlighting the need for tailored public health communication strategies and policies to promote resilience and equity during health crises.