Volume 31, Issue 1 (3-2024)
RJMS 2024, 31(1): 1-11 |
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Research code: 1400-1-2-20983
Ethics code: IR.IUMS.REC.1400.300
Clinical trials code: IR.IUMS.REC.1400.300
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Solhi M, Talebi H, Abolghasemi J. The Effect of Anxiety Caused by Corona on the Emotional Eating Behavior of Students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2021. RJMS 2024; 31 (1) :1-11
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8232-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8232-en.html
Professor, Air Pollution Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , solhi.m@iums.ac.ir
Abstract: (262 Views)
Background & Aims: There is limited research on the psychological problems arising from the spread of COVID-19 and its infection. However, some studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that 23% to 48% of the general population experienced depression and anxiety. "Corona anxiety" refers to anxiety resulting from being infected with the coronavirus, often due to the unknown nature of the disease and the cognitive ambiguity caused by it. Home quarantine, university closures, and online education have resulted in increased anxiety among students, which could lead to nervous overeating, reduced eating, or emotional eating. Unbalanced eating behaviors, including emotional eating, are common issues among students. Research suggests that the prevalence of unbalanced eating behaviors among young individuals, especially young women, is on the rise. Unbalanced eating behaviors include emotional eating (scattered and distinct), external eating, and restrained eating. Emotional eating refers to a tendency to eat in response to negative emotional states such as anger, fear, or anxiety. In external eating behavior, eating and food consumption are influenced by external stimuli such as visual or olfactory cues. Restrained eating occurs in individuals who follow strict diets. When individuals disrupt the body's vital balance with strict regimens, physiological defense mechanisms attempt to return the body to its previous state. In such situations, individuals engage in severe overeating as a compensatory response. In Lucas's study, 33% of the women student scored high in the eating attitude test and had a partial eating syndrome. With the 12–18-month follow-up of these students, it was found that 20% of them had some kind of eating disorder later. In recent years, the prevalence and occurrence of the eating disorders is increasing, so that the study of Ghasempour Gargari et al. showed that 36.3% of the studied students had mild eating disorder syndrome. Uncontrolled anxiety and unbalanced eating behaviors can impact the academic achievements of students. The study aimed to determine the effect of COVID-19-related anxiety on emotional eating behaviors among students at the Iran University of Medical Sciences in the year 2021untill 2022.
Methods: 273 students of Iran University of Medical Sciences participated in this descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study. The sampling method was a cluster among the faculties and available among the students. Data gathering tools were demographic form, the standard questionnaires of Dutch eating behavior and Corona disease anxiety. The validity of these questionnaires was confirmed by previous studies. The data were collected through online questionnaires provided via the PORSLINE platform. Necessary coordination was done with the educational authorities of the selected faculties to obtain contact information for class representatives. Then, the online questionnaire links were shared with student groups through virtual networks. The collected data were exported as Excel files from the PORSLINE platform, each questionnaire having a unique identification code. These data were entered into SPSS version 26 for analysis. The normality of the data was assessed using skewness, kurtosis, and the Shapiro-Wilk test. The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Iran University of Medical Sciences with the approval number IR.IUMS.REC.1400.300.
Results: The average age of participants in this study was 23.79 with a standard deviation of 3.06. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 23.44 with a standard deviation of 3.41, falling within the normal range. The normal BMI range for adults is from 18.5 to 25, overweight range is from 25 to 30, and individuals with a BMI of 30 and above are classified as obese. Among those who had experienced weight gain in the past six months, there were 79 individuals with an average weight gain of 0.4 kg. Participants who had experienced weight loss were 34 individuals with an average weight loss of 2.1 kg. The majority of participants were women, single, unemployed, and from Tehran province. Most of the participating students were studying in midwifery and nursing fields at the bachelor's level. Individuals who had contracted COVID-19 were almost five times more prevalent among the participants compared to others. More than half of the participants had maintained a stable weight in the past six months and did not experience abnormal eating behavior.
The average scores for psychological anxiety and physical anxiety among students were 7.68 and 62.1, with standard deviations of 4.64 and 2.52, respectively. The average score for overall COVID-19-related anxiety was 29.9 with a standard deviation of 6.29. Non-native students had higher levels of physical anxiety compared to native students (p < 0.001).
In general, the mean scores for emotional eating, clear eating, external eating, and restrained eating were 3.10, 5.21, 8.33, and 4.25, respectively. Except for external eating, other eating behaviors were at a moderate level. According to the independent t-test results, the average restrained eating score was significantly lower in men compared to women (p < 0.001). Additionally, the average score of eating based on external stimuli was significantly higher in individuals who were unemployed (p < 0.01). The mean scores for emotional eating, clear eating, and external eating were higher in students who had not maintained a stable weight in the past six months compared to others (p < 0.05). The mean scores for restrained eating, clear eating, and external eating were significantly higher in students who had experienced abnormal eating behavior (p < 0.001). The mean score for external eating behavior was higher in nursing and midwifery students compared to other majors (p < 0.05).
There was a weak positive correlation between age and restrained eating behavior. With increasing age, restrained eating behavior also increased (p< 0.05). Based on the obtained correlation coefficient values, psychological anxiety, physical anxiety, and total anxiety had a significant positive relationship with each other. There was a significant positive relationship between the dimensions of eating behaviors. However, there was no significant relationship between overall anxiety and its dimensions with eating behaviors.
The multiple regression analysis indicated that the gender of students predicted clear eating and restrained eating behaviors. The mean scores for these variables were lower in men compared to women. Abnormal eating behavior predicted emotional eating, clear eating, external eating, and restrained eating behaviors, with higher mean scores in individuals who had experienced abnormal eating behavior. Emotional eating and its subdimensions were predictors of the history of weight gain in the past six months. Eating based on external stimuli was more prevalent among nursing and midwifery students compared to other majors.
The Pearson correlation coefficient test showed that BMI had a statistically significant relationship with all five variables: emotional eating, clear eating, external eating, restrained eating, and eating based on external stimuli. The multiple regression analysis also demonstrated that emotional eating, clear eating, external eating, and restrained eating were predictors of BMI. Physical anxiety and psychological anxiety did not have a significant relationship with any of the eating behavior variables.
Conclusion: There was no relationship between the average anxiety of Covid-19 and emotional eating behavior. In the design of promotion interventions in the field of reducing the anxiety of Corona, non-native students and in the field of emotional eating behaviors, female students, unemployed and studying in nursing-midwifery fields, those who have a high body mass index and a history of abnormal eating behavior should be considered.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Educational Health
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