Nutritional Habits and Lifestyle Changes of Nursing Students Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Aim: The research was intended to determine the nutritional habits and lifestyle changes of nursing students before and during the pandemic of Covid-19.Method: This research was conducted with 548 students in the nursing department of a state university in Istanbul between January 2020 and December 2021. Student Diagnosis Form and Nutritional Habits Index were used to collect the data.Results: During the pandemic period, 71.2% of the students were eating three main meals, 56.9% had the habit of eating at night, 21.4% were using vitamins, 40.5% were doing physical activity, 13% were smokers, 7.7% used alcohol, and 76.5% had sleep disorders. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, it was observed that the risky eating behaviors of the students decreased during the pandemic and there were moderately risky eating behaviors. In addition, students in the fourth grade (p=0.015), non-smokers (p=0.000), non-alcoholic (p=0.030), those who did not gain weight during the pandemic (p=0.015), those who did not skip meals (p=0.002), and those who did not eat at night (p=0.030). =0.000), those who exercise (p=0.010), and those who do not have sleep problems (p=0.000) hadless risky eating behaviors.Conclusion: Students' physical inactivity, night eating habits, and sleep disorders have increased during the pandemic period. Those who do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, do not skip meals, do not gain weight, do not eat at night, exercise, and have less risky eating behaviors during the pandemic period.