Banca de DEFESA: HELENA BENES MATOS DA SILVA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : HELENA BENES MATOS DA SILVA
DATE: 16/02/2022
TIME: 14:30
LOCAL: Online
TITLE:

Unhealthy weight control behaviors in university students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.

KEY WORDS:

COVID-19, unhealthy behavior for weight control, mental health, college students

PAGES: 132
BIG AREA: Ciências da Saúde
AREA: Nutrição
SUBÁREA: Análise Nutricional de População
SUMMARY:

Introduction: University students often experience greater uncertainty about the future and poorer mental health because of academic demands. And this can be exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic as the world population was exposed to various stressors and abrupt changes in lifestyle, with longer screen time, sedentarism, changes in food intake, with exacerbation of emotional eating and consumption of ultra-processed foods, which can lead to weight gain and the adoption of unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCB). Objective: To identify the prevalence and factors associated with UWCB in university students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed using baseline data from the Online Cohort on Eating Behavior and Health (COCASa). The information used was collected between July and August 2020, through an online questionnaire self-administered by Brazilian university students. The questionnaire includes data on weight, height, sex, age, race, area of knowledge, frequency of breakfast, the search of diet content on social media, weight concern, weight perception, COVID-19 concern. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was also applied. Additionally, students indicated the frequency of UWCB using the scale adapted from Hay, 1998, which accesses the adoption of food restriction/fasting, purging, and a question on excessive exercise was added. Statistical analysis was performed using the R software, version 4.1.0, and included frequency analysis, Cramer's V test to analyze the effect size between the independent variables, followed by bivariate logistic regression to select the variables with p<0.2 to compose the final model, which was
tested by generalized logistic regression. Furthermore, the final model estimated by the prevalence ratio and 95% confidence interval was defined by the permanence of the variables with a value of p<0.05 and the best fit of the model by the lowest value of the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Results: The effect size between variables indicates a very strong relationship between nutritional status, weight concern and weight perception, between symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, and between UWCB, search of diet content on social media, weight concern, and weight perception. It was found a prevalence of 32,7% (n=848) for UWCB, with 24,1% for restriction/fasting, 17,0% for excessive exercise and 5.4% for purging. Search for diet content on social media and concern about weight gain were positively associated with all outcomes. Furthermore, severe symptoms of depression, self-perceived overweight, and skipping breakfast increased the prevalence of restriction/fasting. Intermediate income and greater concern about COVID-19 were negatively associated, and
severe anxiety symptoms positively with excessive exercise. Positive associations were also observed between severe anxiety symptoms, skipping breakfast, and purging. Conclusion: This study showed that during the first wave of COVID-19 there was a high prevalence of UWCB among Brazilian university students. In addition, social media use, weight concerns, poorer mental health, behavioral factors, and intermediate income were positively or negatively associated with one or more UWCB in college students. It signals the need to develop health
measures aimed at promoting healthy habits on eating behavior and weight control.

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