THE EFFECT OF THE PANDEMIC ON EATING ATTITUDES, NUTRITIONAL HABITS, AND SELF-ESTEEMOF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

OpenAlex · İngilizce

Objective: The study aims to examine the effect of the pandemic on eating attitudes, nutritional habits, and self-esteem of university students. Methods: The study was carried out in descriptive design. The universe of the study consists of all students studying at Uşak University Health Services Vocational School. The sample consisted of 550 students who met the criteria for participation in the study. "Participant Information Form", "Nutritional Habits Index", "Eating Attitude Test" and "Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale" were used to collect the data. Results: According to the research findings, 75.5% of the participants are women. 41.1% of the students defined their nutrition at medium level. It was observed that 88.7% of them consumed fast food-style foods. The students' eating attitude score average is 17.07± 10.59. The mean score of eating habits is 10.16±3.42. The mean self-esteem score is 15.66±5.42. It was determined that there is a weak and positive relationship between university students' self-esteem and eating attitude (r = .085, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The pandemic process negatively affected students' eating attitudes, nutritional habits, and self-esteem.