scholarly journals Assessment of eating habits and lifestyle during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa region: a cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Leila Cheikh Ismail ◽  
Tareq M. Osaili ◽  
Maysm N. Mohamad ◽  
Amina Al Marzouqi ◽  
Amjad H. Jarrar ◽  
...  

Abstract Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread globally, forcing countries to apply lockdowns and strict social distancing measures. The aim of this study was to assess eating habits and lifestyle behaviours among residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the lockdown. A cross-sectional study among adult residents of the MENA region was conducted using an online questionnaire designed on Google Forms during April 2020. A total of 2970 participants from eighteen countries participated in the present study. During the pandemic, over 30 % reported weight gain, 6·2 % consumed five or more meals per d compared with 2·2 % before the pandemic (P < 0·001) and 48·8 % did not consume fruits on a daily basis. Moreover, 39·1 % did not engage in physical activity, and over 35 % spent more than 5 h/d on screens. A significant association between the frequency of training during the pandemic and the reported change in weight was found (P < 0·001). A significantly higher percentage of participants reported physical and emotional exhaustion, irritability and tension either all the time or a large part of the time during the pandemic (P < 0·001). Although a high percentage of participants reported sleeping more hours per night during the pandemic, 63 % had sleep disturbances. The study highlights that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a variety of lifestyle changes, physical inactivity and psychological problems among adults in the MENA region.

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3314
Author(s):  
Leila Cheikh Ismail ◽  
Tareq M. Osaili ◽  
Maysm N. Mohamad ◽  
Amina Al Marzouqi ◽  
Amjad H. Jarrar ◽  
...  

The coronavirus disease is still spreading in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with subsequent lockdowns and social distancing measures being enforced by the government. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the lockdown on eating habits and lifestyle behaviors among residents of the UAE. A cross-sectional study among adults in the UAE was conducted using an online questionnaire between April and May 2020. A total of 1012 subjects participated in the study. During the pandemic, 31% reported weight gain and 72.2% had less than eight cups of water per day. Furthermore, the dietary habits of the participants were distanced from the Mediterranean diet principles and closer to “unhealthy” dietary patterns. Moreover, 38.5% did not engage in physical activity and 36.2% spent over five hours per day on screens for entertainment. A significantly higher percentage of participants reported physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion, irritability, and tension “all the time” during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic (p < 0.001). Sleep disturbances were prevalent among 60.8% of the participants during the pandemic. Although lockdowns are an important safety measure to protect public health, results indicate that they might cause a variety of lifestyle changes, physical inactivity, and psychological problems among adults in the UAE.


Heliyon ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. e07843
Author(s):  
Md Mahbubul Alam Shaun ◽  
Md Wahidur Rahman Nizum ◽  
Shahnaz Munny ◽  
Fahmida Fayeza ◽  
Sujan Kanti Mali ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 343
Author(s):  
Angela Yunita Tanggu Bore ◽  
Desak Nyoman Widyanthini

ABSTRAK Kota Denpasar memiliki prevalensi balita gemuk tertinggi di Bali, yaitu sebesar 10,5%.  Balita gemuk berisiko menderita penyakit degenaratif ketika beranjak dewasa. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui faktorfaktor yang memengaruhi kegemukan balita di Kota Denpasar. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian survey analitik dengan rancangan cross-sectional study. Sampel penelitian adalah ibu yang memiliki bayi usia 24 – 59 bulan dan tinggal di Kota Denpasar sebanyak 120 sampel yang dipilih secara Convenient Sampling. Variabel yang diteliti yaitu aktivitas fisik, screen time, kebiasaan makan balita, pengetahuan dan sikap ibu yang dikumpulkan menggunakan kuesioner online dan dianalisis menggunakan analisis jalur. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa kegemukan balita secara langsung dipengaruhi kebiasaan makan dengan loading factor sebesar -0,096 dan secara tidak langsung dipengaruhi screen time melalui aktivitas fisik dengan loading factor sebesar -0,054; dan sikap ibu melalui screen time, aktivitas fisik, dan kebiasaan makan dengan loading factor sebesar 0,079. Aktivitas fisik balita menunjukkan loading factor terbesar, yaitu sebesar 0,214, tetapi tidak bermakna secara statistik. Pengetahuan ibu tidak memengaruhi kegemukan balita dengan loading factor sebesar -0,009. Upaya yang dapat dilakukan bagi orangtua adalah memperbaiki pemahaman mengenai screen time, kebiasaan makan, dan sikap ibu dalam menyikapi perilaku anaknya.  Kata Kunci: Kegemukan Balita, Analisis Jalur, Aktivitas Fisik, Screen Time, Sikap Ibu  ABSTRACT Denpasar City has the highest prevalence of toodler’s overweight in Bali, which is 10,5%. Toodlers with overweight are at risk of suffering from degenerative diseases when they grow up. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that influencing toodler’s overweight in Denpasar City. This research is an analytic survey with cross-sectional study. Sample of this research is mothers who have babies aged 24-59 months and live in Denpasar City which is 120 sample that selected by Convenient Sampling. Variables of this research are physical activity, screen time, toddler’s eating habits, mother’s knowledge and attitudes which were collected using an online questionnaire and analyzed using path analysis. The result showed that overweight toddlers are directly affected by eating habits with loading factor 0,096 and indirectly affected by screen time through physical activity -0,054; eating habits through physical activity 0,096; and maternal attitudes through screen time, physical activity, and eating habits 0,079. Toddler’s physical activity provides the greatest loading factor which is 0,214, but not significant. Mother’s knowledge doesn’t affect toddler’s overweight with loading factor is -0,009.  Parents are suggested to improve understanding of toddler’s screen time and eating habits, and mother’s attitude in responding to their children’s behaviour.  Key Words: Toddlers Overweight, Path Analysis, Physical Activity, Screen Time, Mother’s Attitude


Author(s):  
Jing Qi ◽  
Jing Xu ◽  
Bozhi Li ◽  
Jinsha Huang ◽  
Yuan Yang ◽  
...  

SummaryBackgroundThe outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 in China remains to be a serious challenge for frontline medical workers (fMW). They are under high risk of being infected and high mental stress, which may lead to sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate sleep disturbances of fMW and made a comparison with non-fMW. The medical workers from multiple hospitals in Hubei Province, China, were volunteered to participate. An online questionnaire, including Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), was used to evaluate sleep disturbances and mental status of fMW. Sleep disturbances were defined as PSQI>7 points or/and AIS>6 points. We compared the scores of PSQI, AIS, anxiety and depression VAS, and prevalence of sleep disturbances between fMW and non-fMW. Subgroup analysis for different gender in fMW was conducted.FindingsA total of 1306 subjects (including 801 fMW and 505 non-fMW) were enrolled. Compared to non-fMW, fMW had significantly higher scores of PSQI (p< 0.0001), AIS (p<0.0001), anxiety (p<0.0001) and depression (p=0.0010), and higher prevalence of sleep disturbances with PSQI > 7 points (p<0.0001) and AIS > 6 points (p<0.0001). In subgroup analysis, compared to male fMW, female fMW had significantly higher scores of PSQI (p=0.022) and higher prevalence of sleep disturbances with PSQI > 7 points (p<0.0001).InterpretationfMW had higher prevalence of sleep disturbances and worse sleep quality than non-fMW. Female fMW were more vulnerable to having sleep disturbances than male fMW.FundingNone.


Author(s):  
Sathyanarayanan Doraiswamy ◽  
Sohaila Cheema ◽  
Patrick Maisonneuve ◽  
Amit Abraham ◽  
Ingmar Weber ◽  
...  

While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic wreaked havoc across the globe, we have witnessed substantial mis- and disinformation regarding various aspects of the disease. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire for the general public (recruited via social media) and healthcare workers (recruited via email) from the State of Qatar, and the Middle East and North Africa region to understand the knowledge of and anxiety levels around COVID-19 (April–June 2020) during the early stage of the pandemic. The final dataset used for the analysis comprised of 1658 questionnaires (53.0% of 3129 received questionnaires; 1337 [80.6%] from the general public survey and 321 [19.4%] from the healthcare survey). Knowledge about COVID-19 was significantly different across the two survey populations, with a much higher proportion of healthcare workers possessing better COVID-19 knowledge than the general public (62.9% vs. 30.0%, p < 0.0001). A reverse effect was observed for anxiety, with a higher proportion of very anxious (or really frightened) respondents among the general public compared to healthcare workers (27.5% vs. 11.5%, p < 0.0001). A higher proportion of the general public tended to overestimate their chance of dying if they become ill with COVID-19, with 251 (18.7%) reporting the chance of dying (once COVID-19 positive) to be ≥25% versus 19 (5.9%) of healthcare workers (p < 0.0001). Good knowledge about COVID-19 was associated with low levels of anxiety. Panic and unfounded anxiety, as well as casual and carefree attitudes, can propel risk taking and mistake-making, thereby increasing vulnerability. It is important that governments, public health agencies, healthcare workers, and civil society organizations keep themselves updated regarding scientific developments and that they relay messages to the community in an honest, transparent, unbiased, and timely manner.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
SElda Bülbül ◽  
Aliye Gülbahçe ◽  
Nil Koç Gülşen ◽  
Ali Emrecan Ata ◽  
Sevim Gonca Kocagözoğlu

Objective: After Covid-19 pandemic was declared, a number of restrictions have been imposed all over the world. We aimed to detect changes in eating habits of children and adults during Covid-19 pandemic when lifestyle changes were inevitable due to these restrictions. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The data collection process was completed by online questionnaire forms sent via mail system. There were questions about demographic characteristics of the participants and their children, lifestyle changes during the pandemic period and awareness of the pandemic. Participants with more than one child were asked to use the information of their youngest children. In statistical analyzes we used “Statistical Package for Social Science” (SPSS) 20.0 for Windows. Pearson Chi-square test was used for comparisons of categorical variables. The significance level was accepted as p≤ 0.05 in all statistical processes. Results: A total of 327 people between 19-65 years of age participated in this study, and 174 of them had children with a mean age of 6.8 years, including 96 (55.7%) boys and 78 (44.3%) girls. Among all children, physical activity decreased in 101 (58%), screen time increased in 87 (50%) and 40 (23%) of them consumed their meals in front of the screen. The snacking habits of 130 (74.8%) children increased, 34 (19.5%) started consuming too much junk food and 12 of them (6.9%) gained weight. We observed that boys consumed more food than girls during their stay at home when compared to usual prerestriction days as they felt anxious and troubled (p=0.02). Conclusion: Pandemics do not affect our lives not only with disease burden but also, have effects on daily lives of families and children. During this period, besides precautions against infection, special interest should be given to feeding, sleeping habits and physical activities that would boost immune system and measures should be taken to prevent harmful habits.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Lilian Messias Sampaio Brito ◽  
Valderi Abreu de Lima ◽  
Luis Paulo Mascarenhas ◽  
Jorge Mota ◽  
Neiva Leite

ABSTRACT Introduction Social isolation is one of the strategies used to prevent the contagion and transmission of the coronavirus (COVID-19), but it impacts on the daily routines and lifestyle of the population. Objective Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the physical activity, sleep and eating habits of adults and the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method A cross-sectional study with a sample comprising 135 participants, divided by age group. First, the whole group was divided into age groups with a 10-year cut-off. They were then characterized by sex, type of home, eating habits, sleep, and physical activity. For the second analysis, the participants were organized into three groups: young adults (18-40 years), middle-aged adults (41-60 years) and elderly (>60 years). An online questionnaire was sent to all the participants, with 26 questions focusing on eating habits, sleep, protective behaviors against COVID-19, and physical activity. Results The participants were mainly women (85.9%), external community (71.1%), students’ families (17.1%), teachers and staff (11.8%). Of the total participants, 40% were dedicated to home care activities and 21.1% had started working from home. The remainder (38.9%) were engaged in activities such as studying or caring for dependents. The younger age group (18-40 years old) reported spending more time in sedentary activities during the day, and 34.2% did not perform physical activity and ate lower quality food during social isolation (p<0.01). All groups, with the exception of the 30-40 age group (p <0.01) highlighted the importance of having the presence of a teacher responsible for guiding physical activities during isolation. Conclusion We conclude that, social isolation has more negative impact on the habits of the younger group. Cross-sectional study.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 2279
Author(s):  
Federica Grant ◽  
Maria Luisa Scalvedi ◽  
Umberto Scognamiglio ◽  
Aida Turrini ◽  
Laura Rossi

To limit the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, a nationwide lockdown started in Italy in March 2020. In this unpredictable situation, a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was carried out by the Observatory on Food Surplus, Recovery and Waste of CREA Food and Nutrition Centre. The aim of this work was to evaluate how Italian habits changed during this period, the determinants of changes, and the effect on food waste prevention. In a sample of 2678 respondents, 62% showed low Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (AMD). During lockdown many of participants improved the quality of their diet, increasing their consumption of fruit (24.4%), vegetables (28.5%), legumes (22.1%), nuts (12%), and fish or shellfish (14%). Unfavorable changes were observed with the excessive consumption of sweets or pastries (36.9%) and comfort foods (22.7%), and a lack of physical activity (37.2%). The main novelty of this study was the examination of dietary changes identified by a cluster analysis. Respondents with generally high AMD improved their eating habits, while the habits of the respondents with generally low AMD remained unchanged. In addition, nearly 80% of respondents were sensitive to food waste. The study provides a useful contribution to the debate on nutritional recommendations in case of further lockdown.


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