Evaluation of the effect of COVID-19 on nutritional habits and lifestyle changes of healthcare professionals

This research was carried out with a total of 355 adults, 94 men (26.5%) and 261 females (73.5%), aged between 20-56 years, working at Manisa Celal Bayar University Hafsa Sultan Hospital to assess the impact of Covid 19 on the nutritional habits and lifestyle changes of healthcare professionals. Within the scope of the research data was collected using a questionnaire form. The questionnaire form consists of five sections. There are questions concerning the participants' demographic information in the first section, their health information in the second section, their dietary habits in the third section, their physical activity habits in the fourth section, and the frequency of food consumption in the fifth section. %65.9 of female participants and 57.4% of male participants in the study are married. Most of the participants (53.8%) were university graduates. According to the participants' responses to questions regarding their eating habits, 60.6% of males and 60.9% of females did not skip a main meal. When the reasons for skipping meals were examined, 42.8% said they didn't have a habit and 27.8% said they didn't have an appetite. It was observed that 37.7% of the participants changed their eating habits during the Covid 19 period, and 21.1% of these changes being positive and healthy. When the pre-Covid 19 and severe Covid 19 periods were compared, it was shown that 19.4% of all study participants had an increase in appetite and 14.1 % had an increase in meal frequency. It has been determined that the number of females who consume more milk and dairy products, bakery foods, and vegetables than males is higher. When the rates of food consumption of men and women at home were compared during the pre-epidemic period (63.4% and 60.4%, respectively), during the intense period of the pandemic (69.3% and 69.1%, respectively) and at the beginning of the crisis (66.3% and 61.7%, respectively), it was found that the rates increased during the pandemic's most intense period. With the Covid 19 epidemic, it was found that the rate of physical activity declined in both genders, dropping from 16.0 % to 11.7 % in males and from 10.7 % to 8.0 % in women. When the food consumption frequency of participants is evaluated, yoghurt (24.2%), black pepper (27.0%), onion (29.3%), and lemon (22.3%) were found to be the most frequently consumed foods prior to the outbreak. When compared to the pre-epidemic period, when the pandemic was at its peak, consumption of kefir, garlic, vinegar, pickles, molasses, and propolis increased. Foods like flaxseed, core seed oil, and chia seeds were not consumed by the majority of people during all three time periods studied. Obesity is the outcome of poor eating habits, whereas healthy foods protect people from infection.