ABSTRACT
Introduction: The Lost Food Project (TLFP) is a non-profit organization who continuously working on their strategic plan in combating the food insecurity problem by distributing food surplus to low income households within Klang Valley. This cross-sectional study aims to determine the socioeconomic status, food security status and its coping strategies among TLFP recipients in Klang Valley during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study was conducted from April to June 2021. There were 88 respondents recruited through convenience sampling. A set of questionnaires regarding food assistance, nutrition knowledge, food security and its coping strategies was prepared, and the respondents were interviewed either by phone, face-to-face or self-administered questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of food insecurity among households in this study was 59.1%. Most of them have moderate (37.5%) to good (27.5%) nutrition knowledge. The coping strategy that most of the respondents applied was 'using less expensive food' (58.3%) with at least once per week within the past one month. Food insecure households tend to adopt more coping strategies compared to those food secure households (p<0.001). Moreover, households who rent their house (p<0.01), low household income (p<0.05) and high monthly food and drinks expenditure (p<0.01) were associated with the food insecurity among TLFP recipients. Conclusion: The study concluded that lower household income, higher food and drinks expenditure and those who rent the house have negative impacts on household's food security status. Thus, the situation forced them to apply more food-related coping strategies in their daily life. Further research should be conducted on the effectiveness of TLFP in helping them to improve Malaysian's food security status. © 2023 Authors. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Poor sleep quality has become a public health concern due to its association with several health risks. Recent studies had shown that university students had poor sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study aimed to determine the factors associated with sleep quality among undergraduate students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study involved 377 undergraduates from public and private universities in Malaysia. The study ws conducted between 16 June 2021 to 31 July 2021. Respondents completed an online survey reagarding to their sociodemographic background, sleep quality, chronotype pattern, night eating syndrome, food security, physical activity, internet addiction and self-reported body weight and height. There was poor sleep quality in 62.3% of the respondents. Respondents who were Malay (AOR = 3.84, 95% CI =2.07-7.11), in the arts stream (AOR = 2.55, 95% CI = 1.20-5.42) and internetaddicted (AOR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.22-3.77) had higher risk of poor sleep quality. Respondents who lived in a rented house (AOR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.16-0.88), were sophomores (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.25-0.99) and were the morning chronotype (AOR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.17-0.72) had lower risk for developing poor sleep quality. This study underscored the high prevalence of poor sleep quality among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings suggested that by preventing internet addiction and the evening chronotype can improve sleep quality.
ABSTRACT
We aimed to discuss several selected topics related to problematic Internet use (PIU), including fear of missing out, nomophobia, cyberchondria, cyberbullying, and certain health conditions (e.g. autism-spectrum disorder and schizophrenia) among youth. We also aimed to review some recent evidence examining PIU during COVID-19. The review was conducted using keywords relevant to the selected topics and searching in the PubMed database and Google Scholar. The results of this review indicate that PIU could be associated with health issues in a minority of the youth population. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to PIU and subsequent health problems. Information from this review could help healthcare providers to design individualized and appropriate interventions to tackle health issues related to PIU among youth.