Assessing And Responding To Covid-19 Pandemic Nutrition And Wellness Impacts On Iowans

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for indirect Extension programming. To ensure a consumer-focused response, we gathered data from 452 survey respondents regarding how the pandemic was affecting their food-related and health behaviors. The majority reported obtaining their food from a grocery store as they had prior to the pandemic, albeit less frequently, and having increased their home food preparation. Due to the pandemic, respondents were less physically active and more stressed and were seeking reliable nutrition and wellness information. We describe how we were able to facilitate an immediate response by repackaging and adapting existing programming to meet pressing client needs, and we identify broader implications of our work.