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Abstract

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Lifestyle of Tertiary Students in an NZ Polytechnic †

1
Healthcare and Social Practice, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland 1025, New Zealand
2
AUT Food Network, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
3
Research and Enterprise, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland 1025, New Zealand
4
Community Studies, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland 1025, New Zealand
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Presented at the Nutrition Society of New Zealand Annual Conference, Online, 2–3 December 2021.
Med. Sci. Forum 2022, 9(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022009026
Published: 5 May 2022

Abstract

:
The COVID-19 pandemic altered people’s life dramatically worldwide, with major concerns in different economic, political, scientific, and public health aspects. The impact on the lifestyle behaviour of the young generation was larger than anticipated. To better understand the influential factors on the lifestyle of tertiary students in an NZ polytechnic due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their correlations, a questionnaire was administrated online by SurveyMonkey to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on life overall, study time and reasons for changing, stress level, living conditions, eating patterns, choice of food, physical activity level, social activities, and sleep time. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, frequency, and correlations to explore the patterns of the influences and the impact of COVID-19 on the proposed questions. The results showed that the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on students’ life, in general, was 3.8 (from 0: not at all to 5: considerably). The main reasons for students who either needed an extension or time-off or changed to part-time study were increased stress level (63%), financial reasons (16%), and family responsibilities (14%). For the comparison aspects (prior vs. post-COVID-19 lockdown), meaningful differences were observed in physical activity level (3.26 vs. 2.50) (from 1: very light to 5: very active); and the importance of factors that influenced the choice of food was convenience (3.62 vs. 3.41) and nutrition value (3.65 vs. 3.50) (from 1: very less important to 5: very important). Students were anxious because of fear of infection, lacked physical exercise due to lockdown, and had trouble sleeping. The results of the study provide useful information on the impact on daily life for tertiary students in pandemic times. The research findings can inform health professionals of these influences for appropriate policy decisions and public health practices to promote a healthy lifestyle during a pandemic.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, M.R.Y., E.C.R., A.D. and S.S.; draft questionnaires, M.R.Y.; SurveyMonkey conversion, A.D.; data collection, A.D. and N.R.; data analysis, draft preparation and review, M.R.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

This study has been reviewed and approved by the UNITEC Research Ethics Committee: 2021-1024.

Informed Consent Statement

No hard copies of consent form obtained. The on-line survey is anonymous and contained a statement that consent to participate is implied by completion of the survey.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Yan, M.R.; Deo, A.; Rush, E.C.; Ricacho, N.; Shaikh, S. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Lifestyle of Tertiary Students in an NZ Polytechnic. Med. Sci. Forum 2022, 9, 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022009026

AMA Style

Yan MR, Deo A, Rush EC, Ricacho N, Shaikh S. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Lifestyle of Tertiary Students in an NZ Polytechnic. Medical Sciences Forum. 2022; 9(1):26. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022009026

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yan, Mary R., Arun Deo, Elaine C. Rush, Norberto Ricacho, and Shamim Shaikh. 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Lifestyle of Tertiary Students in an NZ Polytechnic" Medical Sciences Forum 9, no. 1: 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022009026

APA Style

Yan, M. R., Deo, A., Rush, E. C., Ricacho, N., & Shaikh, S. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19 on the Lifestyle of Tertiary Students in an NZ Polytechnic. Medical Sciences Forum, 9(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/msf2022009026

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