ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused many lifestyle changes, especially in the diet. Policies such as physical distancing and quarantine orders aimed to mitigate to spread of COVID-19 have affected the economy and, therefore, the dietary habits of the people. AIM: The purpose of this study was to analyze the associations between income levels and dietary habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 697 Indonesian adults from various regions in Indonesia. The study was conducted from June to August 2020. Data were obtained through a self-administered online questionnaire including dietary habits, lifestyles, and quality of life data adapted from MyNutriLifeCOVID-19 online survey. To analyze the associations between income levels and dietary habits during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Chi-square test was used. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Respondents had mean age of 27.56 ± 8.58 years and the majority were women (83.6%). The percentage of people with large-scale social restrictions was 47.5%. Respondents reported that their dietary habits were healthier during the pandemic (46.2%), with the majority categorized as high-and very high-income status (59.1%). From self-reported of the people in Indonesia, there was association between high-income level and selfperceived healthier dietary habits. Higher-income level was also associated with higher frequency of online food/ drink delivery, consuming western diet foods, consuming dietary supplements, and probiotic consumption (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the dietary habits of people with a very high monthly income had eating healthier than before the pandemic. However, it is also related to higher energy, cholesterol, and saturated fat intakes due to consuming high western diet foods. Social inequalities in dietary intake should be considered through promoting a healthy balanced diet with affordable price and healthy food processing in the community.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has presented the world with a major challenge in curbing infection. Information is important for public awareness of the pandemic and its prevention as part of the problem-solving efforts. Grounded on the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS), this study extends the theory by adding religiosity, an important factor that affects health-related behaviors, to examine its role as an antecedent to the situational perceptions that motivate people to take communicative action in preventing COVID-19, and to investigate the factors that lead to precautionary behavior in response to the pandemic. Based on the online survey responses from 371 respondents, the findings of the current study suggest that religiosity predicts problem recognition and constraint recognition, which further lead to communicative action in problem solving. Religiosity, however, does not predict involvement recognition. Religiosity and situational motivation were also found to be significantly related to precautionary behavior. The outcomes can serve as a guideline for the Malaysian Health Promotion Board in information dissemination during a pandemic. © 2021 by De La Salle University.