Restricted diets: analysis of the press discourse on nutrition in times of Covid-19

Abstract

The essential elements of the Spanish press’s discourse on nutrition guidelines during the Covid-19 health crisis are identified. To do this, the evolution of media representation is examined, with a semantic analysis of the news appearing in the national media in Spanish regarding nutrition and Covid-19. The analyzed period is from 31 January 2020 to 31 January 2021. The content search carried out using the Factiva database identified 117 records, which were analysed using T-LAB software. The results reveal that the press warned of hoaxes regarding nutrition during the study period. Four semantic groups are identified, informing about the most appropriate eating patterns according to the different circumstances during the pandemic. The results show that the press plays a role as an educator of Spanish society on nutrition-related topics.