College students' changes in eating and physical activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Background: Due to the rising number of positive COVID-19 cases in the US, a national emergency was declared on March 13, 2020, and Tarrant County issued a stay-at- home order on March 24, 2020 to limit the spread of the new novel virus. The purpose of this study was to assess lifestyle changes across various categories of nutrition knowledge and BMI classifications in response to the global pandemic. Methods: For this mixed-methods cross-sectional study, 150 undergraduate students (n = 75 had not taken a nutrition class;n = 75 taken at least 1 nutrition class, mean age 20.8 ± 4.1yrs) completed a 59-question survey (∼29.9 ± 121.0min). The survey was adapted from the validated, shortened version of REAPS (Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants) and PLifeCOVID-19, and it included two open-ended questions. Results: Majority of participants reported a healthy BMI (56%), while 30% of individuals were overweight. The mean weight change in those who took nutrition classes was 0.55 ± 2.89kg, and the mean change in those with no nutrition classes was 0.65 ± 1.13kg. Of those that completed one or more nutrition class(es), 45% indicated they rarely or never skipped breakfast, alcohol consumption increased by 37% and 12% decreased the amount of moderative activity they were doing. Of those participants who had no nutrition classes, 28% skipped breakfast rarely or never skipped breakfast, alcohol consumption increased in 24% of participants, and 19% reduced the amount of moderate activity they were doing. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has differentially impacted health behaviors of college students, some for the better and some for the worse.