Psychological Aspects and Eating Habits of Indonesian College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of the IDLC-COVID-19 Indonesian Online Survey

Abstract

Objectives The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the daily lives of the education practice worldwide. This study aims to determine the psychological aspects and eating habits of Indonesian college students during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods A survey was conducted online during social isolation from April to June 2021 among the Indonesian population. A total of 952 Indonesian students participated in this cross-sectional online survey. Students reported their psychological aspects such as status of emotional eating and emotional state and their eating habits such as dietary pattern and dietary diversity score (DDS) using a self-administered online questionnaire in Qualtrics platform. The bivariate analysis was used to describe and assess their psychological aspects and eating habits in relation to their socio-demographic during the Covid-19 pandemic. Results Students' mean aged was 21.60 ± 4.20 years. The average BMI of all subjects was 22.20 ± 4.10 kg/m2, 16.30% were underweight and 34.00% were overweight/obese. Most students frequently eat staple foods such as rice and bread also eat animal source food like egg and chicken minimum 1x/day. Of 58.4% and 29% reported to have moderate and high dietary diversity status, respectively. Students with emotional eating status found 30.40% and significantly associated with female students (p = 0.005). Emotional eating status was associated with nutritional status (p = 0.002) and its common in overweight/obese students (43.90%), normal (42.30%), and underweight (13.80%). It was examined that increasing BMI followed with increasing emotional eating status (p = 0.001). Students who had emotional states were related to uncontrol eating during pandemic (OR = 1.8, 95%CI 1.33–2.42, p < 0.001). Conclusions In this study, it has been provided that the Covid-19 pandemic has heavily influenced students’ psychological and eating habits. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, the data need to be confirmed for further research. Funding Sources This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.