Sustainable Diets, A Way to Improve and Maintain Eating Behaviors and Health in Times of COVID-19 in First-Year University Students

Abstract

Sustainable dietary pattern has reported multiple benefits for environmental and human health through sustainable food culture. The Covid-19 pandemic has led the population to adapt to a new virtual reality in all activities and to become more aware of their health. This study explores how evaluate the impact of nutritional education interventions on adherence to MD in first-year university adolescents, before and after the nutritional educational intervention. A total of 165 students participated in the experiment (85 intervention group and 80 control group). A 14-point questionnaire was applied for the adherence to the MD. The study consists of four presential sessions and four virtual sessions using social media to complete the training. The t-tests show that the group with interventions did not change its adherence during the two periods of data collection (p=0.187), contrary to the control group which significantly decreased (p=0.001) from 7.41 to 6.62. It has been concluded that it is necessary to work on institutional policies that promote the benefits of this dietary pattern as a lifestyle that would be beneficial to better cope with the pandemic, since many of the products of the MD are used in Latin-American countries for several years.