Perceptions of COVID-19 and Dietary-Related Beliefs in American Undergraduate Students

Doreen Liou^1, and Jessica Karasik¹

¹Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA

Cite this paper:
Doreen Liou and Jessica Karasik. Perceptions of COVID-19 and Dietary-Related Beliefs in American Undergraduate Students. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2022; 10(7):482-487. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-10-7-6

Abstract

COVID-19 has become a worldwide pandemic, causing immense physical, social & emotional repercussions. Unbalanced nutrition and social isolation can lead to compromised immune systems, which can increase vulnerability to this viral infection. There is limited research addressing college students’ beliefs of COVID-19 related to nutrient intake. The purpose of this qualitative study is to ascertain health-related beliefs related to COVID-19 risk and prevention among undergraduate students enrolled in a New Jersey university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-five undergraduate, full-time students (18 females, 7 males) between the ages of 18 to 25. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted virtually on Zoom and audio-recorded for transcription. An interview protocol consisted of seven open-ended questions related to COVID-19 using tenets of Health Belief Model. Perceived susceptibility and severity to the virus were ascertained along with perceived benefits of adopting diet-related behavior. Questions pertaining to perceived barriers and self-efficacy were queried. All interviews were transcribed verbatim with qualitative analyses performed by two independent researchers who coded the transcripts to achieve inter-rater reliability. Codes were merged into broad themes to derive an original theoretical framework addressing participants’ risk and prevention of COVID-19. Participants expressed their susceptibility to COVID-19 ranging from low-risk to high-risk based on their age, public exposure, and pre-existing health conditions. Perceived severity included notable physical, mental, and social effects. Perceived benefits included the consumption of fruits and vegetables and vitamin supplementation. Perceived barriers in adopting a healthy diet included financial and time constraints. Nutrition and health practitioners need to assess young adults’ beliefs and susceptibility to COVID-19. Educators should assess college students’ motivation to adopt healthy diets to balance their immune systems.

Keywords:
COVID-19 Health Belief Model perceptions beliefs college students

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Covid Data Tracker Weekly Review. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html (n.d., Accessed January 10, 2022).
[2]	Zabetakis I, Lordan R, Norton C, et al. COVID-19: The inflammation link and the role of nutrition in potential mitigation. Nutrients 2020, 12.
[3]	Petrosillo N, Viceconte G, Ergonul O, et al. COVID-19, SARS and MERS: Are they closely related? Clin Microbiol Infect 2020, 26, 729-734.
[4]	Lu R, Zhao X, Li J, et al. Genomic characterization and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: Implications for virus origins and receptor binding. Lancet 2020; 395(10224):565-574.
[5]	Qin C, Zhou I, Hu Z, et al. Dysregulation of immune response in patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Clin Infect Dis 2020, 71, 762-768.
[6]	Thevarajan I, Nguyen THO, Koutsakos M, et al. Breadth of concomitant immune responses prior to patient recovery: A case report of non-severe COVID-19. Nat. Med 2020; 26, 453-455.
[7]	Christian LM, Glaser R. The impact of everyday stressors on the immune system and health. Stress Challenges and Immunity in Space. 2012; p. 31-43.
[8]	Calder PC, Carr AC, Gombart AF, et al. Optimal nutritional status for a well-functioning immune system is an important factor to protect against viral infections. Nutrients; 12, 1181.
[9]	Nurwanti E, Uddin M, Chang J-S, et al. Roles of sedentary behaviors and unhealthy foods in increasing the obesity risk in adult men and women: A cross-sectional national study. Nutrients 2018; 10(6), 704.
[10]	Zheng C, Huang WY, Sheridan S, et al. Covid-19 pandemic brings a sedentary lifestyle in young adults: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Int J of Env Res 2020; 17(17), 6035.
[11]	Kee CE. The impact of COVID-19: Graduate students’ emotional and psychological experiences, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 2021, 31:1-4,476-488.
[12]	Rosenstock IM. The health belief model and preventive health behavior. Health Educ Monogr 1974; 2: 354-386.
[13]	Alsulaiman SA, Rentner TL. The use of the health belief model to assess U.S. college students' perceptions of COVID-19 and adherence to preventive measures. J Public Health Res. 2021; 10(4): 2273.
[14]	Wong LP, Alias H, Wong PF, et al. The use of the health belief model to assess predictors of intent to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and willingness to pay. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2020; Sep 1; 16(9): 2204-2214.
[15]	Guidry JPD, Laestadius LI, Vraga EK, et al. Willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine with and without emergency use authorization. Am J Infect Control 2021; Feb; 49(2): 137-142.
[16]	Alsulaiman SA, Rentner TL. The health belief model and preventive measures: A Study of the ministry of health campaign on coronavirus in Saudi Arabia. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research 2018; 1(1), 27-56.
[17]	Institute of Education Sciences. College enrollment rates - nces.ed.gov. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/2021/cpb_508c.pdf (2021).
[18]	United States Department of Labor. Employed persons by detailed occupation and age. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11b.pdf (2020, January 20).
[19]	Freisling H, Haas K, Elmadfa I. Mass media nutrition information sources and associations with fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents. Public health nutrition 2010, 13(2), 269-275.
[20]	Kim HS, Ahn J, No JK. Applying the Health Belief Model to college students' health behavior. Nutrition research and practice 2012; 6(6), 551-558.
[21]	Ahorsu DK, Lin CY, Imani V, et al. (2020). The fear of COVID-19 scale: development and initial validation. Int J Ment Health 2020; 1-9.
[22]	Taylor S, Landry CA, Paluszek MM, et al. Development and initial validation of the COVID Stress Scales. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 2020; 72, 102232.
[23]	Aksoy NC, Kabadayi ET, Alan AK. An unintended consequence of Covid-19: Healthy nutrition. Appetite 2021; 166, 105430.
[24]	American College Health Association (ACHA). ACHA guidelines. Considerations for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education in the COVID-19 Era. https://www.acha.org/documents/resources/guidelines/ACHA_Considerations_for_Reopening_IHEs_in_the_COVID-19_Era_May2020.pdf (2020, Accessed 13 February 2022).
[25]	Bai GH. Fighting COVID-19 with Mongolian fiddle stories. Multilingua 2020; 39:577-586.
[26]	Riley AH, Sangalang A, Critchlow E, et al. Entertainment-education campaigns and covid-19: How three global organizations adapted the health communication strategy for pandemic response and takeaways for the future. Health Communication 2020.