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.

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, legumes, among others. Or
foods we call junk food, which are 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 of the 8th semester in the English degree of the Latin University during confinement?
Why we’re doing this? The pandemic also affected a countless situation 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 enthusiasm to investigate whether this phenomenon had a high impact on
university students and obtain an idea of how the pandemic changed the people dietary.
Covid-19, Junk food, dietary habits, students, health.

FACTUAL DATA

A study was 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, Desserts.
Many surveys were conducted to different people of different ages and from other cultures or
countries. Including Europe, West Asia, North Africa. The online questionnaire was translated
into several languages including English, French, German, Portuguese among others. And
everywhere the consumption of unhealthy foods and very little consumption of vegetables and
fruits was shown. All these surveys showed that people when we 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, sweet. 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.
This shows that most people are mostly influenced by social networks, in terms of noticing that
the consumption of certain foods is the special one to react in the best way to this situation.

STATISTICS

The confinement presented 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. This brought with it that the eating routine is carried out mostly at home,
something new for some individuals, such as university students, which followed an increase in
the intake of fast food. 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 since they
come to various restaurants and cafeterias that offer them a better and more affordable price 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 has increased 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, this translated into an increase in the delivery of junk food.
In a survey of students in the eighth semester of the English major at the Latina university,
where 60% were men and the remaining 40% women in an age range between 19 and 51
years, they were asked about their diet during confinement. , the results showed that 80% of
those surveyed came to eat junk food often, a difference of 20% who did not; Regarding the
frequency of intake, 50% say they order fast food frequently against another 50% who mention
not having ordered regularly, according to the results, 100% mention that the intake of junk is
carried out between meals. evening and night hours. They are also questioned about the
regularity with which they cook, 60% of the people surveyed stated that they prepare their food
frequently, while 40% rarely cook their own food, as for drinks, 40% of those surveyed they
preferred to drink sugary drinks against 60% who, as mentioned, preferred to consume water;
this eating behavior added to 80% who claimed to have had almost no physical activity
demonstrates the sedentary lifestyle of the students, this behavior leads to approximately 40%
of individuals gaining weight, The survey states that at least 60% of the students noticed
changes in their way of relating to other people while 40% continued to have the same ease of
relating.
THEORIES

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, 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 sedentary lifestyle.
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.

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.