Evaluation of the effect of anxiety status on eating behavior and nutritional status of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic process

The restrictions made during the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the physical and mental health and nutritional habits of individuals. The aim of this study; To evaluate the anxiety levels of university students and to investigate the effect of anxiety on eating habits and eating behaviors. 874 university students were included in this study, which was conducted between February and June 2021. The data were collected by online survey method through the "Google Forms" platform. General information, Coronavirus and Beck Anxiety Scale, Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (UFAA-SF), food consumption record and frequency form were applied to the participants. The number of female participants made up 83.6% of the total participation. The number of participants whose eating habits were affected constituted 74.4% of the total participation, and the number of participants who thought that stress and anxiety had an effect on eating habits during COVID-19 made up 80.7% of the total participation. According to the anxiety types calculated from the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale total scores, 85.5% of the participants were in the minimal anxiety group, and a statistically significant difference was determined with gender (p<0.001). No statistical correlation was found between the coronavirus anxiety scale and body mass index (χ2: 3.061; p=0.801>0.05). According to the anxiety types calculated from the Beck Anxiety Scale total scores, 28.7% of the participants were in the minimal anxiety group, and there was a statistically significant difference with gender (p<0.005). There is a moderate positive correlation between Beck Anxiety Scale total scores and Dutch Eating Behavior Scale sub-dimensions (restrictive, emotional, extrinsic, respectively; r: 0.324; p<0.001, r: 0.389; p<0.001, r: 0.307; p <0.001). There is a statistically significant difference between the gender of the participants and the Dutch Eating Behavior Scale, one of the scales used in the study (p<0.001). There was a statistically significant negative low correlation between body mass index and restrictive eating sub-dimension (r: -.069; p=.042<0.05). According to the UFAA total scores, 57.1% of the participants were in the high activity group. There is a statistically significant relationship between gender and UFAA (χ2: 8.053; p=.018<0.05). As a result; It was revealed that the quarantine process caused an increase in the anxiety levels of university students and negatively affected their eating habits and eating behavior. In this sense, it is recommended to monitor whether nutritional and psychological changes are maintained during and after the pandemic process or not to create a new disease burden.