Research Article
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COVID-19 phobia, mindful eating, eating habits and body weight change among university students during pandemic: A pilot study

Year 2022, , 118 - 126, 01.04.2022

Feride Ayyıldız , Merve Şeyda Karaçil Ermumcu

https://doi.org/10.3153/FH22012

Abstract

To evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 phobia on mindful eating, eating habits and body weight change among university students. This study was carried out with 385 university students who have been in social isolation at home for at least 2 months. The online survey was constituted via an internet-based questionnaire on Google forms. The survey includes demographics features, body weight, eating habits, change in appetite and consumption of food/food groups. COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S) and the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ) were used. Results: Both males and females had similar scores from C19P-S and MEQ. Body weight and BMI of students significantly increased during the pandemic period (p<0.05). The percentage of being underweight decreased and being pre-obese/obese increased during the pandemic period. The percentage of the increase in the consumption of sweets, toffees, candies and foods with sugar was high in both groups (male: 48.2%; female: 47.1%). The most increased consumption of food groups was fruit, and also fast food was the most decreased among the consumption of food groups in this study. In addition, a negative correlation was found between C19P-S and MEQ scores (r=-0.214, p<0.001). And also there was a negative correlation between the MEQ subscale of emotional eating scores and psychological, psycho-somatic and social subscales of C19P-S (p<0.01). C19P-S scores had significantly higher in those with increased or decreased appetite and MEQ scores had significantly higher in those who have decreased or unchanged appetite. COVID-19 phobia can affect mindful eating and eating habits during the social isolation/pandemic period in university students. It is important to increase mindful eating during the pandemic, to provide adequate and balanced nutrition, to reduce the risk of disease and to affect the course of the disease positively.

Keywords

COVID-19 phobia Mindful eating Eating habits Body weight change

Thanks

Thank you to all participants in our study.

References

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  • Allen, N.B., Chambers, R., Knight, W. (2006). Mindfulness-based psychotherapies: a review of conceptual foundations, empirical evidence and practical considerations. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 40, 285-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01794.x
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  • Brooks, S.K., Webster, R.K., Smith, L.E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., Rubin, G.J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912-920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8 Butler, M.J., Barrientos, R.M. (2020). The impact of nutrition on COVID-19 susceptibility and long-term consequences. 2020. Brain Behavior and Immunity, 87, 53-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.040
  • Cao, W., Fang, Z., Hou, G., Han, M., Xu, X., Dong J., Zheng, J. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research, 287, 112934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
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  • Chen, N., Zhou, M., Dong, X., Qu, J., Gong, F., Han, Y., Qiu, Y., Wang, J., Liu, Y., Wei, Y., Xia, J., Yu, T., Zhang, X., Zhang, L. (2020). Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. The Lancet, 395, 507-513. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7 Dallman, M.F. (2010). Stress-induced obesity and the emotional nervous system. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 21, 159-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2009.10.004 Forman, E.M., Butryn, M.L., Hoffman, K.L., Herbert. J.D. (2009). An open trial of an acceptance-based behavioral intervention for weight loss. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16, 223-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2008.09.005 Framson, C., Kristal, A.R., Schenk, J.M., Littman, A.J., Zeliadt, S., Benitez, D. (2009). Development and validation of the mindful eating questionnaire. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109, 1439-1444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.006 Gritsenko, V., Skugarevsky, O., Konstantinov, V., Khamenka, N., Marinova, T., Reznik, A., Isralowitz, R. (2020). COVID 19 fear, stress, anxiety, and substance use among Russian and Belarusian university students. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 21, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00330-z
  • Karslıoğlu, A.Ş., Göz, B., İzci, B., Koç, C., Küllü, E., Kalanyuva, E., Şirin, E., Yıldırım, M., Ahioğlu, M., Kaygusuz, M., Yılmaz Özel, N., Karal, Ö., Doru, S.R., Yıldız, Ü., Öztürk, Y.T. (2020). COVID-19 hukuk kroniği. https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/FileHandler2.ashx?f=covid-19-hukuk-kronig%CC%86i-(11-26-mart)_637234231712445567.pdf (accessed 11.05.2021).
  • Klang, E., Kassim, G., Soffer, S., Freeman, R., Levin, M.A., Reich, D.L. (2020). Morbid obesity as an independent risk factor for COVID-19 mortality in hospitalized patients younger than 50. Obesity, 28(9), 1595-1599. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22913 Köse, G., Tayfur, M., Birincioğlu, İ, Dönmez, A. (2016). Yeme farkındalığı ölçeği’ni Türkçeye uyarlama çalışması. Bilişsel Davranışçı Psikoterapi ve Araştırmalar Dergisi, 3, 125-134. https://doi.org/10.5455/JCBPR.250644 Macht, M. (2008). How emotions affect eating: A five-way model. Appetite, 50, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2007.07.002
  • Mei, S.L., Yu, J.X., He, B.W., Li, J.Y. (2011). Psychological investigation of university students in a university in Jilin Province. Medicine and Society, 24, 84-86.
  • Moynihan, A.B., Van Tilburg, W.A., Igou, E.R., Wisman, A., Donnelly, A.E., Mulcaire, J.B. (2010). Eaten up by boredom: Consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 369. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369 Muscogiuri, G., Barrea, L., Savastano, S., Colao, A. (2020). Nutritional recommendations for CoVID-19 quarantine. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 74, 850-851. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0635-2
  • Omiwole, M., Richardson, C., Huniewicz, P., Dettmer, E., Paslakis, G. (2019). Review of mindfulness-related interventions to modify eating behaviors in adolescents. Nutrients, 11(12), 2917. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11122917 Ornell, F., Schuch, J.B., Sordi, A.O., Kessler, F.H.P. (2020). “Pandemic fear” and COVID-19: mental health burden and strategies. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 42, 232-335. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2020-0008 Pellegrini, M., Ponzo, V., Rosato, R., Scumaci, E., Goitre, I., Benso, A., Belcastro, S., Crespi, C., Michieli, F.D., Ghigo, E., Broglio, F., Bo, S. (2020). Changes in weight and nutritional habits in adults with obesity during the “lockdown” period caused by the COVID-19 virus emergency. Nutrient, 12, 2016. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12072016 Peters, M.A., Wang, H., Ogunniran, M.O., Huang Y., Green, B., Chunga, J.O. , Quainoo, E.A., Ren, Z., Hollings, S., Mou, C., Khomera, S.W., Zhang, M., Zhou, S., Laimeche, A., Zheng, W., Xu, R., Jackson, L., Hayes, S. (2020). China’s internationalized higher education during Covid-19: collective student autoethnography. Postdigital Science and Education, 2, 968-988. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00128-1
  • Reyes-Olavarría, D., Latorre-Román, P.A., Guzmán-Guzmán, I.P., Jerez-Mayorga, DCaamaño-Navarrete, F., Delgado-Floody, P. (2020). Positive and negative changes in food habits, physical activity patterns, and weight status during COVID-19 confinement: Associated factors in the chilean population. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(15), 5431. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155431 Robinson, E., Boyland, E., Chisholm, A., Harrold, J., Maloney, N.G., Marty, L., Mead, B.R., Noonan, R., Hard-man, C.A. (2021). Obesity, eating behavior and physical activity during COVID-19 lockdown: A study of UK adults. Appetite, 156, 104853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104853 Türk Tabipler Birliği (2020). COVID-19 pandemisi iki aylık değerlendirme raporu. https://www.ttb.org.tr/userfiles/files/covid19-rapor.pdf (accessed 06.05.2021). Van Strien, T. (2018). Causes of emotional eating and matched treatment of obesity. Current Diabetes Reports, 18(6), 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1000-x World Health Organization (WHO) (2020). Archived: WHO timeline - COVID-19. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19 (accessed 18.05.2021).
  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2021a). Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19). https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel- coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses (accessed 14.05.2021).
  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2021b). Body mass index – BMI. https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/a-healthy-lifestyle/body-mass-index-bmi (accessed 25.05.2021).

Year 2022, , 118 - 126, 01.04.2022

Feride Ayyıldız , Merve Şeyda Karaçil Ermumcu

https://doi.org/10.3153/FH22012

Abstract

References

  • Abbas, A.M., Kamel, M.M. (2020). Dietary habits in adults during quarantine in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Obesity Medicine, 19, 100254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obmed.2020.100254
  • Ahorsu, D.K., Lin, C.Y., Imani, V., Saffari, M., Griffiths M.D., Pakpour, A.H. (2020). The fear of COVID-19 scale: development and initial validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 27, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8
  • Alberts, H.J., Thewissen, R., Raes, L. (2012). Dealing with problematic eating behaviour. The effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on eating behaviour, food cravings, dichotomous thinking and body image concern. Appetite, 58, 847-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.01.009
  • Allen, N.B., Chambers, R., Knight, W. (2006). Mindfulness-based psychotherapies: a review of conceptual foundations, empirical evidence and practical considerations. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 40, 285-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01794.x
  • Ammar, A., Brach, M., Trabelsi, K., Chtourou, H., Boukhris, O., Masmoudi, L., Bouaziz, B., Bentlage, E., How, D., Ahmed, M., et al. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 home confinement on eating behaviour and physical activity: Results of the ECLB-COVID19 International online survey. Nutrients, 12, 1583. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061583
  • Arpaci, I., Karataş, K., Baloğlu, M. (2020). The development and initial tests for the psychometric properties of the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S). Personality and Individual Differences, 164, 110108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110108 Baer, R.A., Fischer, S., Huss, D.B. (2005). Mindfulness and acceptance in the treatment of disordered eating. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 23, 281-300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-005-0015-9
  • Brooks, S.K., Webster, R.K., Smith, L.E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., Rubin, G.J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912-920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8 Butler, M.J., Barrientos, R.M. (2020). The impact of nutrition on COVID-19 susceptibility and long-term consequences. 2020. Brain Behavior and Immunity, 87, 53-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.040
  • Cao, W., Fang, Z., Hou, G., Han, M., Xu, X., Dong J., Zheng, J. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research, 287, 112934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2021). Coping with stress. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html (accessed 10.05.2021).
  • Chen, N., Zhou, M., Dong, X., Qu, J., Gong, F., Han, Y., Qiu, Y., Wang, J., Liu, Y., Wei, Y., Xia, J., Yu, T., Zhang, X., Zhang, L. (2020). Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. The Lancet, 395, 507-513. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7 Dallman, M.F. (2010). Stress-induced obesity and the emotional nervous system. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 21, 159-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2009.10.004 Forman, E.M., Butryn, M.L., Hoffman, K.L., Herbert. J.D. (2009). An open trial of an acceptance-based behavioral intervention for weight loss. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16, 223-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2008.09.005 Framson, C., Kristal, A.R., Schenk, J.M., Littman, A.J., Zeliadt, S., Benitez, D. (2009). Development and validation of the mindful eating questionnaire. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109, 1439-1444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.006 Gritsenko, V., Skugarevsky, O., Konstantinov, V., Khamenka, N., Marinova, T., Reznik, A., Isralowitz, R. (2020). COVID 19 fear, stress, anxiety, and substance use among Russian and Belarusian university students. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 21, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00330-z
  • Karslıoğlu, A.Ş., Göz, B., İzci, B., Koç, C., Küllü, E., Kalanyuva, E., Şirin, E., Yıldırım, M., Ahioğlu, M., Kaygusuz, M., Yılmaz Özel, N., Karal, Ö., Doru, S.R., Yıldız, Ü., Öztürk, Y.T. (2020). COVID-19 hukuk kroniği. https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/FileHandler2.ashx?f=covid-19-hukuk-kronig%CC%86i-(11-26-mart)_637234231712445567.pdf (accessed 11.05.2021).
  • Klang, E., Kassim, G., Soffer, S., Freeman, R., Levin, M.A., Reich, D.L. (2020). Morbid obesity as an independent risk factor for COVID-19 mortality in hospitalized patients younger than 50. Obesity, 28(9), 1595-1599. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22913 Köse, G., Tayfur, M., Birincioğlu, İ, Dönmez, A. (2016). Yeme farkındalığı ölçeği’ni Türkçeye uyarlama çalışması. Bilişsel Davranışçı Psikoterapi ve Araştırmalar Dergisi, 3, 125-134. https://doi.org/10.5455/JCBPR.250644 Macht, M. (2008). How emotions affect eating: A five-way model. Appetite, 50, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2007.07.002
  • Mei, S.L., Yu, J.X., He, B.W., Li, J.Y. (2011). Psychological investigation of university students in a university in Jilin Province. Medicine and Society, 24, 84-86.
  • Moynihan, A.B., Van Tilburg, W.A., Igou, E.R., Wisman, A., Donnelly, A.E., Mulcaire, J.B. (2010). Eaten up by boredom: Consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 369. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369 Muscogiuri, G., Barrea, L., Savastano, S., Colao, A. (2020). Nutritional recommendations for CoVID-19 quarantine. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 74, 850-851. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0635-2
  • Omiwole, M., Richardson, C., Huniewicz, P., Dettmer, E., Paslakis, G. (2019). Review of mindfulness-related interventions to modify eating behaviors in adolescents. Nutrients, 11(12), 2917. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11122917 Ornell, F., Schuch, J.B., Sordi, A.O., Kessler, F.H.P. (2020). “Pandemic fear” and COVID-19: mental health burden and strategies. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 42, 232-335. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2020-0008 Pellegrini, M., Ponzo, V., Rosato, R., Scumaci, E., Goitre, I., Benso, A., Belcastro, S., Crespi, C., Michieli, F.D., Ghigo, E., Broglio, F., Bo, S. (2020). Changes in weight and nutritional habits in adults with obesity during the “lockdown” period caused by the COVID-19 virus emergency. Nutrient, 12, 2016. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12072016 Peters, M.A., Wang, H., Ogunniran, M.O., Huang Y., Green, B., Chunga, J.O. , Quainoo, E.A., Ren, Z., Hollings, S., Mou, C., Khomera, S.W., Zhang, M., Zhou, S., Laimeche, A., Zheng, W., Xu, R., Jackson, L., Hayes, S. (2020). China’s internationalized higher education during Covid-19: collective student autoethnography. Postdigital Science and Education, 2, 968-988. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00128-1
  • Reyes-Olavarría, D., Latorre-Román, P.A., Guzmán-Guzmán, I.P., Jerez-Mayorga, DCaamaño-Navarrete, F., Delgado-Floody, P. (2020). Positive and negative changes in food habits, physical activity patterns, and weight status during COVID-19 confinement: Associated factors in the chilean population. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(15), 5431. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155431 Robinson, E., Boyland, E., Chisholm, A., Harrold, J., Maloney, N.G., Marty, L., Mead, B.R., Noonan, R., Hard-man, C.A. (2021). Obesity, eating behavior and physical activity during COVID-19 lockdown: A study of UK adults. Appetite, 156, 104853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104853 Türk Tabipler Birliği (2020). COVID-19 pandemisi iki aylık değerlendirme raporu. https://www.ttb.org.tr/userfiles/files/covid19-rapor.pdf (accessed 06.05.2021). Van Strien, T. (2018). Causes of emotional eating and matched treatment of obesity. Current Diabetes Reports, 18(6), 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1000-x World Health Organization (WHO) (2020). Archived: WHO timeline - COVID-19. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19 (accessed 18.05.2021).
  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2021a). Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19). https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel- coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses (accessed 14.05.2021).
  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2021b). Body mass index – BMI. https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/a-healthy-lifestyle/body-mass-index-bmi (accessed 25.05.2021).
There are 18 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Clinical Sciences
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Feride Ayyıldız 0000-0003-2828-3850

Merve Şeyda Karaçil Ermumcu 0000-0002-2023-8433

Publication Date April 1, 2022
Submission Date June 5, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2022

Cite

APA Ayyıldız, F., & Karaçil Ermumcu, M. Ş. (2022). COVID-19 phobia, mindful eating, eating habits and body weight change among university students during pandemic: A pilot study. Food and Health, 8(2), 118-126. https://doi.org/10.3153/FH22012

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