Dietary habit, physical activity and perceived barriers during movement control order among undergraduate students in Puncak Alam, Selangor

ABSTRACT

The emergence of COVID-19 had affected people in terms of their physical activity and nutritional changes which may increase the risk of various non-communicable diseases (NCD) among them. This study aimed to identify the physical activity level, nutritional changes, and perceived barriers to engage physical activity among students of UiTM Selangor, Puncak Alam Campus during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia. A total of 234 students aged 18-24 years old were chosen to participate in this study by using convenience sampling. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA), and adapted questionnaire from the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia were used in this study. Findings reveal that students were able to engage in physical activity level during the pandemic period which required them to be quarantined. Moreover, there was an increase in the frequency of healthy eating behaviour as well as unhealthy eating behaviour during MCO.Copyright © 2023 The Authors.