Dietary Habits And Physical Inactivity Of Adolescents During Covid-19 Period
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Date
2021-12
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University Of Ghana
Abstract
Background: It is known that physical inactivity is highly prevalent and dietary habits are poor among adolescents. These are the major risk factors for obesity in adolescents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical inactivity habits has been shown to be influenced due to restriction in movement and dietary habits have also been affected due to stress accompanying the pandemic.
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the association between poor dietary habits and physical inactivity of adolescents during the COVID-19 period.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was employed for this research. Balloting and systematic sampling techniques were used to recruit adolescents between 15-19 years from Wesley Grammar School and Ideal College. Data collection was carried out from June to August 2021 (after the COVID-19 lockdown period). The Three- Factor Eating Questionnaire and Food Frequency Questionnaire were used to collect information on dietary habits and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire assessed physical activity information. IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used for analysis. Continuous variables such as age were analysed using descriptive statistics summarised into means and standards deviation. Categorical variables such as dietary habits and physical activity levels were summarized into frequencies and percentages.
Pearson chi-square test was employed to determine associations between dietary habits and physical inactivity. Results: Skipping meals, snacking and immoderate fat intake (eating fried and oily foods often) showed higher prevalence of 69.3%, 67.1% and 56.1% respectively. Majority (89.2%) of the participants had low physical activity level. There was significant association between time spent watching TV and intake of unpolished cereals (p= 0.018), fast foods (p= 0.001) and pastries (p = 0.050). There was no significant association between time spent on the computer and the various food groups, except for intake of unpolished cereals (p=0.003) and fast foods (p=0.013). In addition, significant association was found for time spent reading and frequency of consumption of legumes (p= 0.010) and pastries consumption (p ≤ 0.001).
Conclusion: Dietary habits were generally unhealthy (poor) and physical inactivity was high among the participants during COVID-19 period. Some associations were found between sedentary behaviours and poor dietary habits.
Description
MSc. Dietetics
Keywords
Covid-19, Adolescents, Dietary, Habits