Impact of Educational Level on Changes in Dietary and Lifestyle Factors in Relation to Mental Distress Pre–And During COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVES: Having a graduate degree during the COVID-19 pandemic may bring job and financial security, which is potentially reflected in dietary and lifestyle factors as well as mental wellbeing. Those who lost their job during the pandemic are more likely to experience changes in their daily routine and behaviors, and face shifts in their mental health status. The purpose of this study was to assess trends in dietary and lifestyle factors in relation to mental distress pre- vs during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of adults based on education level. METHODS: This study is part of a larger study on dietary patterns and mood. Data collection started prior to the pandemic with a pre-COVID-19 sample size of 2,853 and COVID-19 sample size of 692. Data were collected anonymously via several social media platforms using the validated Food-Mood Questionnaire. Data collected since March 2020 was considered COVID-19 data as most of the major restrictions that may have impacted job security around the world started around this date. We examined trends in population characteristics using two-sample Welch's t test for all the variables to identify statistically significant changes (P < 0.05) due to the pandemic. RESULTS: Those with a graduate degree were more likely to eat more vegetables, less fast food, exercise more frequently and use more multivitamin and fish oil supplement and less likely to experience an increase in mental distress. Those without a graduate degree were more likely to skip breakfast, eat more fruits, meat, high glycemic index food, increase use of multivitamin and fish oil supplements and exercise frequently. They were also less likely to eat nuts. Interestingly, this group had seen an increase in mental distress. CONCLUSIONS: Those with a graduate degree experienced minimal disruption in their dietary and lifestyle factors, which may explain the lower likelihood of mental distress in this population. In addition, all the changes noted were beneficial to physical and mental health. However, those with no graduate degree have experienced greater dietary and lifestyle changes, which may explain the upsurge of their mental distress. In essence, education level during COVID-19 pandemic allegedly contributed to changes in dietary and lifestyle factors that in turn may have impacted mental wellbeing. FUNDING SOURCES: Experiment.com