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UNIVERSIDAD LATINA DE PANAMÁ

SEDE DE DAVID
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
ESCUELA DE INGLÉS

“Effects of confinement due to COVID-19, in relation to the intake of junk food at Latina
university 8th quarter students of the English's bachelor’s degree”.

FINAL PROJECT
INVESTIGATION METHODOLOGY

ELABORATED BY:
Elián Santamaría
Dario Vasquez 4-282-140
Gonzalo Aispurúa
Ismael Vargas ID: 4-822-160

PROFESSOR:
Donain Camarena

DAVID, PANAMA 15th DECEMBER 2022

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1.1 INTRODUCTION

The confinement due to the Covid 19 pandemic brought with it a change in everyone's

eating habits, whether they are healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, or legumes,

among others. Or foods we call junk food, which is high in calories from sugar and/or

fat, and possibly also sodium, but low in dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or

other important forms of nutritional value. In this research, we focus on how was the

consumption of junk food by students in the 8th semester of their English degree at the

Latin University during confinement.

Keywords: Covid-19, Junk food, dietary habits, students, health.

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CHAPTER I: PRELIMINARY INFORMATION

1.2 Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the levels of stress, anxiety, and disruption to

many individuals’ daily lives, which might impact eating habits. Many studies were

carried out in different parts on their dietary habits and their weight during and before

the closures and it showed a significant increase in the consumption of unhealthy

dressings, such as sweets, chocolates, fried foods, refrigerated, salty, and desserts. In

the same way, these studies were conducted on different people of different ages and

from other cultures or countries including Europe, West Asia, and North Africa, and

everywhere the consumption of unhealthy foods and very little consumption of

vegetables and fruits was shown. All these surveys showed that in people who are

under a level of stress, concern, or not comfortable, a level of anxiety develops, which

the majority counteracts by consuming unhealthy foods, I can mention fast foods,

refrigerated, fried foods, and sweets. Since now that a state of anxiety is shown, the

brain develops endorphins and when ingesting sweets the body reacts in a placid way,

this commonly happens between youth and adulthood.

According to Fernandez (2022), changes in eating habits were common, with about 1 in

2 adults reporting consuming more unhealthy snacks and desserts and about 1 in 3

adults reporting drinking sometimes or often/always during the early phase of the

COVID-19 pandemic.
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This shows that many people when is under high levels of pressure or anxiety can be

influenced to change many parameters of their normal life. As can be noticed in the

eating habits, the consumption of certain foods is the special one to react in the best

way to this situation and they took these kinds of decisions in order to reduce the levels

of anxiety.

1.2 Justification

The confinement modify several habits, among them the reorganization of routines in

the lives of Panamanians, of course, they spent much more time at home, either

working or studying on digital platforms. Indeed, this brought with it that the eating

routine is carried out mostly at home, something new for some individuals, such as

university students. In most cases, the routines of university students require many

hours of study outside the home, which leads these individuals to deteriorate their diet,

this is because they come to various restaurants and cafeterias that offer them a better

and more affordable prices for products that are often not beneficial to their bodies.

Thus, with the arrival and installation of the pandemic in daily life, the intake of fast food

by individuals seemed to increase dramatically. With social isolation, the life of

Panamanian university students changed. The absence of the habit of cooking, plus the

high number of tasks to be carried out; The increase in stress and sedentary lifestyle of

people, translated into an increase in the delivery of junk food. The pandemic also

affected countless situations in our daily lives, going out with our friends for coffee

became impossible due to the strict confinement. This brought many positive and

negative effects to society, including the high intake of junk food. This awakens our
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enthusiasm to investigate whether this phenomenon had a high impact on university

students and obtain an idea of how the pandemic changed people's diets.

1.3 Statement of the problem

A lot of studies have examined eating behavior changes among adults during the

pandemic, but most have been conducted in other countries. While a few studies were

conducted here in Panama, these ones had not focused on university students. Thus,

this project tends to examine the effects of confinement due to COVID-19, in relation to

the intake of junk food at Latina university 8th quarter students of the English bachelor’s

degree.

1.4 Objectives

1.4.1 General Objective

To demonstrate how confinement has impacted eating habits in relation to the intake of

junk food at Latina university 8th quarter students of the English bachelor’s degree

1.4.2 Specific Objectives:

To analyze how has been the students eating habits during the pandemic of Covid-19.

To examine the different alimentary behaviors of university students during the

pandemic.

To describe whether the intake of junk food continues in the dairy life of the students.

1.5 Hypothesis
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1.5.1 Experimental

The students order deliveries because they didn't want to cook their own food during the

confinement.

1.5.2 Null

The students were willing to cook their own food during the confinement.

1.6 Delimitations and limitations

Delimitations refer to the boundaries of the research study, based on the researcher's

decision of what to include and what to exclude.

This project was developed in order to demonstrate how students changed their eating

habits by increasing their intake of junk food during the pandemic.

This project was developed at Latina university 8th quarter students of the English

bachelor’s degree in a 3 months period approximately.

Accomplish this research, some limitations appeared such as lacking clear information

to develop the project step by step, time, and the appropriate types of equipment in

order to process all the information.

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter presents a compilation of different theoretical fundaments about the topic

in students and its variables. As it was presented in previews pages the covid-19

changed many things in people’s life and routines and eating behaviors were not an

exception.
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The terms variable and constant reference to changes in statistical patterns of random

or real data that can lead to some changes in the resulting state of the system.

In other words, variables are any characteristics that can take on different values

hamley age, test marks, temperature, pressure, weight, etc.

An independent variable is a variable that we vary in an experimental study to measure

its effects. It’s called independent because it is not affected by ant other variables in the

study.

A dependent variable is a variable that varies with respect to change in the independent

variable.

The chart below shows the variables and their dimensions in order to have a more clear

context of this research.

Variables Dimensions

COVID -19 Concept

Effects

People behaviors

Junk Food Concept

Eating habits

Types

In the following lines, the different variables will be defined in order to have a piece of

concise and true information about this topic that will allow having better conclusions.
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2.1 Covid-19

According to WHO (2020), the independent variable covid-19, or coronavirus is a family

of viruses that infect both animals and humans. Human coronaviruses can cause mild

diseases similar to the common cold, while others cause more severe diseases. This

disease has caused many deaths around the world. In the same way, many people’s

routines change due to this illness.

2.1.1 Concept

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2

virus. According to WHO, 2021 The virus can spread from an infected person’s mouth

or nose in small liquid particles when they cough, sneeze, speak, sing or breathe.

2.1.2 Effects

The covid-19 has had a lot of repercussions and effects on people. As the WHO, (2020)

published “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide

and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems, and the world

of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating:

tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty”. These are just a bite

of the huge effects that covid, especially the confinement has had on the world.

2.1.3 People's behaviors.

In the same way, changes also got people's behaviors. Many populations change the

way in which they do or they act. According to Dr. Loftus, several key behaviors
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emerged due to the pandemic. “Some prioritized their health and fitness while others

didn’t fret eating more and working out less given the seriousness of the world around

us,” she noted.

2.2 Junk Food

As the previous part, in order to have a good domain in the topic, it is mandatory to

know the concept of junk food as the dependent variable in this research.

2.2.1 Concept

There are many kinds of foods, but it is very common to hear about unhealthy foods

also calls junk foods. Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes it as “food that is high in

calories but low in nutritional content”. It is important to mention that this kind of food is

typically produced in the form of packaged snacks needing little or no preparation.

2.2.2 Eating habits

People have different routines or habits in order to do normal activities in life. These

routines also play an important role in the alimentation. Many people set a special

behavior or habit to eat. As Santana describes “eating habits are defined as “conscious,

collective, and repetitive behaviors, which lead people to select, consume, and use

certain foods or diets, in response to social and cultural influences”.

2.2.3 Types of Junk Food

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It is so called because it doesn’t play a role in healthy eating, especially if it's eaten to

excess. Junk food is also known as discretionary food or optional food but as Health

Direct published, it can be classified into the following items:

● cakes and biscuits

● fast foods (such as hot chips, burgers and pizzas)

● chocolate and sweets

● processed meat (such as bacon)

● snacks (such as chips)

● sugary drinks (such as sports, energy and soft drinks)

● alcoholic drinks

● others

It is true that Panamanians have been changing their eating habits for a few years,

increasing their intake of ultra-processed foods and the number of home orders, always

looking for quick and easy access foods, and abandoning the action of cooking. It

should be noted that the intake of junk food should not be completely prohibited in our

diet but should be moderate and conscious.

When ordering junk food at home, we must be careful with the consistency and types of

orders, because if we do not do it this way, we will be creating unhealthy habits that can

have consequences on our physical well-being.

theories:

1. People changed their eating habits due to stress and a sedentary lifestyle.
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2. People who increased their intake of ultra-processed foods suffered from sleep

problems.

3. People who changed their diet increased their body weight.

4. People who ate a lot of junk food experienced increases in normal blood sugar levels.

5. Most of the people who increased their consumption of junk food were extroverts.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK

3.1 Types of research

3.1.1 Description

It is an ethnographic study in which as researchers are going to interview students

asking about their eating habits, especially during confinement. The main purpose of

this design is to describe how students change their eating habits and the intake of junk

food increase during the pandemic. In the same way, it is important to mention that it is

a longitudinal study because the research was developed with the same group of

participants for the whole proposal over time.

3.2 Instruments for data collection

For this research, some data collection techniques will be used, and the appropriate

ones will help us to obtain reliable results. Data-collection instruments mean tests,

questionnaires, interviews or guides, rating scales, survey plans, or any other forms

which are used to collect information. Among them, we can mention the interview and

the survey. In the first one, the researchers will have direct contact with the participants

at the same time, and in the second one, the surveyors will ask some key questions in

order to know the nutritional lifestyle of each student during confinement.

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3.3 Population

This research will be applied to students of higher education at Latina University, David

Branch, specifically those who are taking the English Bachelor Degree in the 8th quarter

at night shift.

3.4 Source and Subjects of information

This sample was intentionally selected and was a finite sample of 4 students. For this

study, the sample was the students at Latina University, David Branch, specifically

those who are taking the English Bachelor Degree in the 8th quarter on the night shift.
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CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

4.1 Interview

An interview is a qualitative research method that relies on asking questions in order to

collect data. Interviews involve two or more people, one of whom is the interviewer

asking the questions. Two classmates were chosen for this interview. Individually we

ask the following questions:

1. During confinement, did your eating habits change?

2. Do you think your diet has been the best until today?

3. Do you think that the intake of unhealthy foods increased during the pandemic?

Why?

ANSWERS OF CLASSMATE 1

In the first question the classmate responded that his eating habits had changed during

the confinement but I didn't mention any reason.

The second question responded that his diet is the best because he is trying not to eat

so much processed food.

In the last question the classmate responded that is right, the intake of junk food

increased during the confinement and he is one example of that.

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ANSWERS OF CLASSMATE 2

In the first question the classmate responded that her eating habits had changed during

the confinement because she only ate healthy food but with the confinement, she began

to consume fast food.

The second question responded that her diet is the best because when the confinement

ends, she returned to consuming healthy food.

In the third question, she responded affirmatively, for the fact that she did too.

4.2 SURVEY

The researchers conducted a survey of eight questions which were answered by seven

subjects equivalent to 100%, 85.8% of them between the age ranges of 18-29 and 30-

40, both ranges with 42.9% and only 14.3%. it was found in the range of 41-51; Among

the questions in the survey, the researchers highlighted the following three:

How would you rate your state of health from 1 to 5 considering that 1 is poor, 3 is fair,

and 5 is excellent?

When you buy food, do you consider quality or just price?

If you want to eat a hamburger, do you go to McDonald's or buy ingredients and prepare

them yourself?
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In the first question, the researchers specify that 71.4% of the surveyed colleagues

state that they have a regular state of health, only 14.3% state that they have a bad

state of health, while the other 14.3% indicate who is in excellent health.

Question 2 showed researchers that 57.1% of peers in the survey when shopping for

groceries, considered quality over price first, while 42.9% consider the price above the

quality of a product.

Question 3 indicated to the researchers that 71.4% of the respondents prefer to buy a

hamburger at McDonald's instead of preparing it themselves, and only 28.6% prefer to

prepare it themselves.
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CONCLUSION

To sum up, Covid-19 has changed many things in people's lives, and eating behaviors

are no exception. Every day, many families eat outside the home, and one of the main

reasons to do it is to avoid or reduce stress. The interview shows that many people in

our population in this study eat different kinds of junk foods, especially between the

main meals. They intake many foods that are easy to get and cheap because when they

have some episodes of anxiety, stress, depression even fears, they relax by eating

these products. The pandemic has represented a very high level of anxiety. As a result,

people have increased their intake of snacks, chocolate, sugared drinks, and many

other products that cause having many people with inappropriate eating habits. The

most important thing to highlight in this aspect is to consider that increasing the intake of

junk food is dangerous for people's life. In addition, without any doubt, the increase in

unhealthy food consumption is a collateral effect of SAR-COV 2, which has been

impacting the quality of people's health. Finally, this project also found that some people

like to cook and eat at home, and this is pretty good because the foods will be healthier

and more beneficial for families.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

During the development of this research the following recommendations can be done:

● It is recommended for this kind of job the theory for the stages will be done

chapter by chapter in order to avoid confusion, especially with students that are

facing research for the first time.

● It is suggested to review chapter by chapter all the information when it has been

prepared by the tutor in order to have a final job with high quality.

● It is recommended future researchers read a lot about their topics before

developing those in order to have clears ideas that help them to interpret results

in a better way.

● It is recommended to follow the appropriate and actual templates to develop

research.

● It is suggested to take into account APA or MLA citation styles to elaborate

academic papers that accomplish the required standards.

● It is recommended to use citations and trusted information to create this kind of

project.
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REFERENCES

Drake K. How has the pandemic changed our behavior? Medical News Today web site. May
19, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-has-the-pandemic-
changed-our-behavior

Fernandez, A. Reported Changes in Eating Habits Related to Less Healthy Foods and
Beverages during the COVID-19 Pandemic among US Adults. National Library of Medicine.
Jan, 26th, 2022. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8838827/#:~:text=Overall%2C
%2035.7%25%20of%20adults%20reported,19%20pandemic%20(Table%201).

Health Direct. Junk food and your health. 2022 Free Australian health website.Retrieved from
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/junk-food-and-your-health

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Junk Food. Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. Retrieved

from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junk%20food

Santana J. Eating. Habits Associated with Nutrition-Related Knowledge among University

Students Enrolled in Academic Programs Related to Nutrition and Culinary Arts in Puerto Rico
International School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts, Universidad Ana G Méndez, San Juan
00901, Puerto Rico. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7285020/#:~:text=Introduction,cultural
%20influences%E2%80%9D%20%5B1%5D.
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World Health Organizations. Impact of COVID-19 on people's livelihoods, their health and our
food systems. October 13th, 2020. Web site: Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B_gJXAxqW4V2j6mBIKO3y8Ewvf6CEvUB/edit

World Health Organization. WHO Information Networks for Epidemics. Novel Coronavirus, Epic
Win 2019-2020. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/risk-
comms-updates/update-2-epi-win-ncov-0.pdf?sfvrsn=908add3_2