ALIMENTACIÓN Y ACTIVIDAD FÍSICA DURANTE EL CONFINAMIENTO POR COVID-19 EN ESTUDIANTES DE LA UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL LITORAL, SANTA FE, ARGENTINA

Abstract

Introduction: The influence that academic life exerts on lifestyle of university students is a recognized fact. As a strategy adopted to prevent the massive spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Argentinian government decreed isolation and social distancing measures in 2020 that led to the cessation of attendance by students at universities; therefore, this particular situation represented an unknown scenario. Objectives: To evaluate changes in habits eating and physical activity (PA), in the context of confinement by COVID-19, in students of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, observational and descriptive study was carried out from June to August 2020. An online questionnaire was used to investigate demographic data, diet and PA, developed ad hoc and validated by experts (reliability: Cronbach's alpha=0.85) and pilot test. The population sample (non-probabilistic method) included 1259 students, 22 ± 3 years old, predominantly female (78%). Results: 63% lived in the same place as during the attendance and 96% were accompanied. Moreover, 63% perceived that confinement measures modified their relationship with food, mostly for emotional reasons (71%). On the other hand, 81% increased their consumption of homemade meals and 26% used delivery more frequently. 49% of the students described their diet as moderately healthy; the majority (71%) ate all four main meals, and among those who skipped at least one (29%), the main reasons were not being hungry (38%) and getting up late (34%). Among those who drank alcohol, 56% consumed less. In other matters, 62% decreased physical activity and 20% maintained it. Conclusions: Social confinement had a negative impact by decreasing physical activity, while diet was modified by both negative and positive aspects. This information is valuable to capture interventions aimed at maintaining healthy lifestyles in this university population. Keywords: COVID-19 lockdown; college students; feeding; physical activity.