MSc

During COVID-19 pandemic was declared, a number of restrictions have been imposed
all over the world. The present study entitled “Dietary Behaviour of school going children during
the COVID-19 confinement and the impact of the online nutrition education intervention” was
carried out during 2020-2022. The objective of the research was to analyze the influence of the
COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation on the diet and physical activity among the school going
children of Trivandrum district. The study also aimed to develop nutrition education tools and
evaluate the nutrition education imparted using the tools to the school going children
Two hundred and fifty school going children were randomly selected from urban and
rural areas from Thiruvananthapuram district in order to comprehensively examine the eating
habits, food consumption pattern, physical activity and sleep differences in school going children
before (Pre Covid) the COVID-19 pandemic and one year later during the pandemic (Peri Covid)
Assessment tools were created in the google forms and was provided to them. The
assessment tools used to elicit were questionnaires included parameters like demographic
characteristics, food preferences, food frequency, food consumption pattern, eating Behaviour,
Behaviour indicators, self-regulation of eating Behaviour and nutrition knowledge.
In order to impart nutrition education videos and pamphlets were developed which was
uploaded in social media for the children to access. A pilot study was conducted any 20 students
to assess the reliability and validity of assessment tools and online nutrition education tool. Based
on the results of the pilot study the tools were finalized . The data collection process was
completed by online questionnaire forms and self-reported data was obtained from 250
participants at two measurement points before ( Pre Covid ) and during ( Peri Covid ) the
lockdown to examine the influence of the lockdown on Physical Activity, dietary habits, sleep,
and media usage of school going children aged 10-12 years.After the assessment , online nutrition
education session was delivered for the selected 250 school going students At baseline and oneweek post , a short nutrition knowledge assessment was done .
Out of two hundred and fifty school going students 48.8% of them were males and 51.2%
were female. Majority of the students were studying the Fifth grade . Majority of the parents
reported that self-employed (44%) . The socio-economic status of (49.2% ) was in the category of
above poverty line. The education status of the majority of the sample’s mother was plus
two(33.6%) and father was graduate (27.60%).
Majority of the respondents of the study were non-vegetarians (98%). The present study
reveals that the food preferences towards all the food groups decreased during COVID-19
pandemic. It was found that the mean scores of the frequency of consumption of most products
decreased (Pre Covid to Post Covid ) ,Cereals (5.04 to 4.47), legumes (4.38 to 3.86 ), Nuts (5.05
to 4.73), Seeds (4.53 to 3.81), Fruits (5.43 to 4.39), vegetables (5.07 to 4.09) and fish (5.64 to 5.35)
and dairy products(5.55 to 5.46) Whereas the mean score increased in the case of Meat (5.72 to
5.73). However, it was found that intake of Juice (4.29 to 5.01 ), ice cream ( 3.43 to 4.15), Puffs
(3.64 to 4.32 ), Biscuit (4.74 to 5.19) , jalebi (2.71 to 3.93), Milk Chocolates (3.03 to 3.90), Miranda
(1.84 to 2.70 ),Apple fizz (1.54 to 2.82) increased significantly peri pandemic compared to pre
pandemic. The eating Behaviour of the respondents also changed during the pandemic and mean
score of the desire for restaurant /packed food (7.3-10.5),emotional under eating (10.2-10.9)
increased.
Food consumption pattern also change remarkably and the study portraits that the
consumption of food on daily basis increased from 3 times a day to 7 times a day .The present
study depicts that the consumption of fruits and vegetables decreased (4.42 to 3.04) during
pandemic whereas consumption of bakery items( 1.59 to 3.66 ),sugar sweetened beverages (1.43
to 2.71), snacks ( 1.78 to 4.37), and foods with high sugar (1.86 to 3.48 ) significantly increased.
When Self- regulation of eating Behaviour was analyzed, it indicates that there was a tremendous
decrease in the intake of healthy diet (1.00 to .20), during the pandemic. Changes in daily activity
patterns (increased sleep duration with higher sleep quality and reduced physical activity) was also
observed. Additionally, an increase in general media usage was observed during the pandemic.
The study also shows that significant change in nutrition knowledge occurred after the
nutrition education, Dietary recommendations (12.06 to 32.86), Foods groups and healthy food
choice(35.39 to 77.86), Disease and weight management (8.88 to 21.64).
These results are of concern and reflect that lockdown can have deleterious consequences
at personal, social and psychological level, which may produce imbalances in the maintenance
and acquisition of healthy lifestyle behaviours. National and international studies that have
addressed aspects of lifestyle in childhood during pandemic are scarce. Therefore, these results
contribute to better identifying the impact and repercussions that the COVID-19 pandemic has
had on children. Further Longitudinal studies are required to learn the long-term effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic.