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Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

The long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle changes remains understudied. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess changes in nutrition, physical activity, and body weight among Lithuanian students during the pandemic and their post-pandemic persistence. Data were collected from 143...

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Autores principales: Kriaučionienė, Vilma, Grincaitė, Monika, Raskilienė, Asta, Petkevičienė, Janina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10535377/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37764874
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu15184091
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author Kriaučionienė, Vilma
Grincaitė, Monika
Raskilienė, Asta
Petkevičienė, Janina
author_facet Kriaučionienė, Vilma
Grincaitė, Monika
Raskilienė, Asta
Petkevičienė, Janina
author_sort Kriaučionienė, Vilma
collection PubMed
description The long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle changes remains understudied. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess changes in nutrition, physical activity, and body weight among Lithuanian students during the pandemic and their post-pandemic persistence. Data were collected from 1430 first-year students (325 males, 1105 females) through an online self-administered questionnaire. The students indicated an increase in the consumption of snacks, fast food, home-made confectionery, and sweets. A decrease in physical activity during the pandemic was reported by 34.9% of males and 33.2% of females. Lifestyle changes during the pandemic were associated with post-pandemic habits. A higher proportion of females (38.7%) than males (31.1%) indicated an increase in BMI, which was more pronounced among students with overweight. A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that reduced physical activity; the increased consumption of red meat, snacks, fast food, and home-made confectionery during the pandemic; and post-pandemic BMI were linked with weight gain. After the pandemic, weight gain persisted in 40.9% of students who continued to follow unhealthy nutrition habits and had reduced physical activity. The study emphasizes that the promotion of a healthy diet and regular physical activity among university students is essential for developing lifelong habits that contribute to a healthy body weight and overall well-being.
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spelling pubmed-105353772023-09-29 Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic Kriaučionienė, Vilma Grincaitė, Monika Raskilienė, Asta Petkevičienė, Janina Nutrients Article The long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle changes remains understudied. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess changes in nutrition, physical activity, and body weight among Lithuanian students during the pandemic and their post-pandemic persistence. Data were collected from 1430 first-year students (325 males, 1105 females) through an online self-administered questionnaire. The students indicated an increase in the consumption of snacks, fast food, home-made confectionery, and sweets. A decrease in physical activity during the pandemic was reported by 34.9% of males and 33.2% of females. Lifestyle changes during the pandemic were associated with post-pandemic habits. A higher proportion of females (38.7%) than males (31.1%) indicated an increase in BMI, which was more pronounced among students with overweight. A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that reduced physical activity; the increased consumption of red meat, snacks, fast food, and home-made confectionery during the pandemic; and post-pandemic BMI were linked with weight gain. After the pandemic, weight gain persisted in 40.9% of students who continued to follow unhealthy nutrition habits and had reduced physical activity. The study emphasizes that the promotion of a healthy diet and regular physical activity among university students is essential for developing lifelong habits that contribute to a healthy body weight and overall well-being. MDPI 2023-09-21 /pmc/articles/PMC10535377/ /pubmed/37764874 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu15184091 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kriaučionienė, Vilma
Grincaitė, Monika
Raskilienė, Asta
Petkevičienė, Janina
Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
title Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short Changes in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Body Weight among Lithuanian Students during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort changes in nutrition, physical activity, and body weight among lithuanian students during and after the covid-19 pandemic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10535377/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37764874
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu15184091
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