218 International Journal of Child Health and Nutrition, 2022, 11, 218-224 E-ISSN: 1929-4247/22 © 2022 Lifescience Global Dietary Pattern of School-Going Children during COVID-19 Pandemic Brij Pal Singh and Mahak Sharma * Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Haryana, India Abstract: Background: School age is the foundation of human life. A healthy and balanced diet plays a major role in the proper growth development of the body as well as the mind. Only a balanced diet can provide all the macro and micronutrients. Covid 19 has impacted each and every human being in some or another manner. School-going children had to cope with new encounters involving online teaching-learning methodology and social distancing. As a result, these children have undergone mental and psychological trauma. This led them to follow faulty dietary habits, which would have long time impact on their health. Aim and Objectives: In the present survey, an attempt has been made to compile a report on the dietary intake of school- going children in the Roopnagar district of Punjab, India. Methodology: For the purpose sample of 100 students (7 to 12 years) was selected from four development blocks of district Roopnagar, and the cluster sampling method was adopted for data collection. A detailed pretested questionnaire on the dietary habits of children was used. Results: 59% of children were vegetarian, 32% were non-vegetarian, and 9% were eggetarian. Study findings showed that children preferred some of the items such as wheat, rice, sugar, rajma, black gram, green gram, potato, tomato, onion, apple, banana, and grapes over other food items in the same food group. Conclusion: Results showed that children do not consume a variety of food items, and some selected food items only resulting low dietary diversity and food variety. Keywords: Covid 19, dietary habits, food groups, school-going children, lifestyle, macro and micronutrients. INTRODUCTION The coronavirus (Covid – 19) has been a matter of global concern and emergency in the last couple of years, which led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a pandemic [1]. Covid – 19 has been a life- changing scenario for the whole world. It imparted a drastic change in the lifestyle of people globally. Lockdown and, subsequently, online schooling impacted children to a large extent. Not only the threat of disease but its collateral damages imparted a major role. It includes inadequate nutrition, such as obesity or malnutrition, addiction to gadgets, lack of physical activity, social isolation, risk of child abuse, etc. [2]. Due to an imbalanced diet, the issue of loss of immunity was more common, leading school-going children to suffer a lot. Also, teachers play a vital role in making children aware of good eating habits, cleanliness, and a healthy lifestyle. Due to online schooling, children lose their connectivity with teachers and thus the disciplined environment of school [3]. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the lifestyle and thus dietary habits of many families. Due to the *Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Haryana, India; Mob: +919999560399; E-mail: mahak.fas@mriu.edu.in lockdown, the economic disturbance has affected living activities for a major population worldwide. School closures also led to the interruption of programs like ‘Mid-Day Meals' making poor school-going children deprived of food, making their living more challenging leading to nutritional imbalance [4, 5]. Financial challenges due to Covid 19 led many families to low economic levels, which would further lead them to make cheaper and unhealthy food choices in order to pay for other needs such as rent and medications [5]. In the present study, an attempt was made to collect extensive data from a large population of school-going children of District Roopnagar, Punjab, India, regarding the change in their dietary habits during the Covid 19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY Locale Roopnagar District of Punjab was selected for this pilot study. For this purpose, the Roopnagar district was divided into four development blocks: Roopnagar, Anandpur Sahib, Nangal, and Chamkaur Sahib. Sampling Population School-going children of age group 7 to 12 years were selected in the Roopnagar district of Punjab.