Lifestyles, Food Consumption Frequencies, and Eating Behaviors among Three Main Disciplines of Undergraduate Students during the Early COVID-19 Outbreak in Thailand
Issued Date
2023-06-01
Resource Type
eISSN
20726643
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85163948483
Pubmed ID
37375675
Journal Title
Nutrients
Volume
15
Issue
12
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Nutrients Vol.15 No.12 (2023)
Suggested Citation
Sahasakul Y., Amonsusawat N., Phansuea P. Lifestyles, Food Consumption Frequencies, and Eating Behaviors among Three Main Disciplines of Undergraduate Students during the Early COVID-19 Outbreak in Thailand. Nutrients Vol.15 No.12 (2023). doi:10.3390/nu15122765 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/87838
Title
Lifestyles, Food Consumption Frequencies, and Eating Behaviors among Three Main Disciplines of Undergraduate Students during the Early COVID-19 Outbreak in Thailand
Author(s)
Author's Affiliation
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
University students’ lifestyles and dietary habits have been considerably impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and its related policies and restrictions. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to May 2020 to compare lifestyles, food consumption frequencies, and eating behaviors among three main disciplines of undergraduate students during the early COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand. The study involved 584 participants from Mahidol University, with 45.2% from Health Sciences (HS), 29.1% from Sciences and Technologies (ST), and 25.7% from Social Sciences and Humanities (SH). The results showed that ST students had the highest proportion of overweight and obese (33.5%) individuals, followed by HS (23.9%) and SH (19.3%) students. ST students skipped breakfast the most (34.7%), followed by SH (34%) and HS (30%) students. Furthermore, 60% of SH students spent 7 h or more daily on social media, and they had the least exercise and the highest frequency of ordering home-delivery food. SH students (43.3%) reported a higher likelihood of making unhealthier food choices and consuming fast food, processed meat, bubble tea, boxed fruit and vegetable juice, and crunchy snacks more frequently than students from other disciplines. The findings show that undergraduate students had poor eating behaviors and lifestyles during the early COVID-19 outbreak, highlighting the urgent need to promote food and nutrition security among students during and after the pandemic.