COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent behavioral changes of a university community

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the behavioral variations, lifestyle and nutritional indicator of an academic community before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional, epidemiological study with 1655 members of the Federal University of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, of both sexes, and aged between 17 and 72 years. Using Google Forms, the questionnaire adapted from “ConVid: Research of Behaviors” and the short version of the IPAQ were applied. The McNemar test was used to compare indicators between lifestyle before and during the pandemic (p < 0.05) and binary logistic regression for association with the diagnosis of COVID-19. It was observed that during the pandemic there was an increase in the prevalence (p < 0.001) of individuals who did not meet the recommendations for walking (42.8% to 80.6%); moderate (74.3% to 80.6%) and vigorous (64.6% to 71.8%) physical activity. In addition, an increase in the time of use considered high (p < 0.001) for television (2.4% to 12.7%) and computer/tablet (58.1% to 81.8%). Alcohol consumption went from 64.1% to 64.9% (p < 0.001), while cigarette use went from 5.7% to 7.8% (p < 0.001). The classification of the nutritional indicator also showed significant changes (p < 0.001), the percentage of obesity (7.7% to 11.1%) and overweight (22.6% to 28.1%). The risk of contamination for COVID-19 was higher among those less active (OR = 1.34; 95%CI: 1.04 – 1.64). The results showed a decrease in the level of physical activity, an increase in sedentary time, a worsening lifestyle, and an increase in overweight among students and employees of an academic community, due to the consequences imposed by the pandemic period, increasing health risk factors.