Introduction:

An appropriate nutrition is the key to develop immunity, protection against diseases and infections, and support the recovery.

Objective:

To identify the characteristics of foods consumption and alimentary culture in COVID-19 convalescent persons.

Methods:

An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out, from May to December 2020, of 67 patients over 20 years convalescent from COVID-19, with negative results in the polymerase chain reaction test for a month, who belonged to a health area of Havana city. Some sociodemographic, dietary and nutritional state variables were analyzed.

Results:

The disease was presented more frequently in male sex (59.7%) and the 20 to 39 age group (47-8%). A high percentage of general overweight was identified (59.7), and the most consumed and preferred foods were the energy-giving in the afternoon-night time (89.6%), as well as those fried products and poultry skin (38.8%). The consumption of vegetables and fruits was low (29.9 and 40.3%, respectively) and there was a poor variety in the diet (86.4%), since they didn't consume foods from the 7 basic groups daily, although most of them (70.0%) had 3 meals a day.

Conclusions:

The studied individuals possessed a poor alimentary culture expressed by limited or wrong knowledge, what is a warning about the necessity of having an educational instrument for the adoption of attitudes and healthy alimentary habits leading to the restoration of immunity.

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