Linking Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms with Diet Quality of University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic in India

Satyajit Kundu; Najneen Rejwana; Md Hasan Al Banna; Joseph Kawuki; Susmita Ghosh; Najim Z Alshahrani; Natisha Dukhi; Subarna Kundu; Rakhi Dey; John Elvis Hagan Jr; Christiana Naa Atsreh Nsiah-Asamoah; Suttur S Malini

doi:10.3390/healthcare10101848

Linking Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms with Diet Quality of University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic in India

Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Sep 23;10(10):1848. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10101848.

Authors

Satyajit Kundu^{1

2}, Najneen Rejwana³, Md Hasan Al Banna⁴, Joseph Kawuki⁵, Susmita Ghosh^{6

7}, Najim Z Alshahrani⁸, Natisha Dukhi⁹, Subarna Kundu¹⁰, Rakhi Dey¹¹, John Elvis Hagan Jr^{12

13}, Christiana Naa Atsreh Nsiah-Asamoah¹⁴, Suttur S Malini³

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
² Faculty of Nutrition and Food Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali 8602, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Studies in Genetics and Genomics, University of Mysore, Mysuru 570005, India.
⁴ Department of Food Microbiology, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali 8602, Bangladesh.
⁵ Centre for Health Behaviours Research, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁶ Department of Food Technology and Nutrition Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali 3814, Bangladesh.
⁷ Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayett, IN 47907, USA.
⁸ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Human Sciences Research Council, 116-118 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town 8001, South Africa.
¹⁰ Statistics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh.
¹¹ Department of Statistics, Government Brajalal College, National University of Bangladesh, Gazipur 1704, Bangladesh.
¹² Department of Health, Physical Education & Recreation, College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast, PMB TF0494, Cape Coast P.O. Box 5007, Ghana.
¹³ Neurocognition and Action-Biomechanics-Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Postfach 10 01 31, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Cape Coast, PMB TF0494, Cape Coast P.O. Box 5007, Ghana.

Abstract

This study examines the association of depressive and anxiety symptoms with diet quality among university students while controlling for different demographic and other health and lifestyle factors. This cross-sectional study was carried out between April 2021 and June 2021 among a total of 440 (unweighted) university students. Diet quality was assessed using a 10-item mini-dietary assessment index tool. The depressive and anxiety symptoms of participants were measured using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression and mediation analyses were performed. In this study, 61.1% (95% CI: 56.6% to 65.7%) of university students' diet quality was good during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being a post-graduate student, an urban resident, having no depressive (AOR = 2.15, 95% CI: 1.20 to 3.84) and anxiety symptoms (AOR = 1.96, 95% CI: 1.07 to 3.59), no changes or improvement in appetite, and no changes in sleep duration were significantly associated with good diet quality among our study participants. Depressive and anxiety symptoms during COVID-19 had a significant effect on the diet quality of university students. Future public health policies need to be focused on improving the mental health and well-being of students particularly during pandemic situations to enhance their diet quality.

Keywords: COVID-19; India; anxiety; depression; diet quality; university students.

Grants and funding

The study received no external funding. However, the article processing charge (APC) was funded by Bielefeld University, Germany through the Open Access Publication Fund.