The changes in Appetite and Food habits during lockdown among students in India: A cross-sectional study

Priya Rajesh Anepla; Madhura Kayara; Sanjay Kini; Praveen Shenoy

Volume : IX, Issue : VII, July - 2020

The changes in Appetite and Food habits during lockdown among students in India: A cross-sectional study

Priya Rajesh Anepla, Madhura Kayara, Sanjay Kini, Praveen Shenoy

Abstract :

The COVID 19 pandemic is the defining global crisis of our time and the greatest challenge we have faced since World War Two. Optimizing public health during this pandemic requires not only knowledge of the medical and biological sciences, but also of all human sciences related to lifestyle, social and behavioural studies, including dietary habits and lifestyle. The present study was conducted with an objective to find out how lockdown has affected students� lifestyle in India with respect to appetite, food habits, bowel movements, body weight and water consumption per day. Google form was used to conduct the study and a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Four Hundred Thirty (430) students participated in the study. Results depicted 48.1% of students showed decreased consumption of junk food during lockdown. Among 43% of students the appetite had remained the same while for 29.1% it had increased and 12.8% showed decrease. The majority of the students reported an increase in their body weight than before during lockdown. Although, consumption of water in the students had increased in 59.5% of the survey volunteers.