CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

COVID-19 is not only a deadly disease outbreak but also affects the mental, social activity,

eating, sleeping, and level of physical activity of the population. And, now WHO declared the people

to take a vaccine to reduce the transmission burden of the virus. The emergence of COVID-19

reaching pandemic levels persuades huge distressing mental health symptoms and psychological

impact in the people with anxiety being the most common as was revealed following SARS-CoV-2

and MERS-CoV. Anxiety and hesitation along with restricted healthcare access and food insecurity

could also impact people with obesity and eating disorders. Several factors affect the extent of the

psychological impact of outbreaks such as media misinformation, future unpredictability, quarantine,

and unknown means of virus transmission. Subsequently, such stressful events significantly worsen

insomnia and disturbed sleep patterns, poor eating habits along with increased sedentary behaviors

and decreased levels of physical activity (Kifle, et al., 2022)

COVID-19 is not necessarily lethal for all infected individuals; however, the COVID-19

pandemic has changed lifestyles dramatically, with many people working from home and having little

contact with people other than family members. These changes have possibly led to less physical

activity, altered rhythms of daily life, and unhealthier lifestyles. Many adults who are not leaving

home to go to work and are spending more time at home may have greatly diminished levels of daily

physical activity or time spent outdoors. Additionally, they may be snacking more and experiencing

more circadian rhythm disorders. One international online survey identified unhealthier food

consumption and meal patterns, as well as decreased physical activity and increased sedentary time,

during quarantine (Azuma & et al., 2021). The current COVID-19 pandemic had a great effect in the

people’s daily lifestyle, crushed us with fear of infection, and thereby altered our life satisfaction and

mental health. Social distancing and social isolation has drastically affected lifestyles of the people

around the world. As a consequence, serious mental and emotional responses have been registered.
There was a significant decline in physical and other meaningful activities of daily living, leisure,

social activity, and education.

As countries introduce measures to restrict movement as part of efforts to reduce the number

of people infected with COVID-19, more and more of us are making huge changes to our daily

routines. The new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of

children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends and colleagues take time to

get used to. Adapting to lifestyle changes such as these, and managing the fear of contracting the virus

and worry about people close to us who are particularly vulnerable, are challenging for all of us. They

can be particularly difficult for people with mental health conditions (WHO, 2022). According to the

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation dashboard of World Health Organization (WHO), as

of May 10, 2020, more than 4,000,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed worldwide, with nearly

300,000 deaths. The WHO states that the outbreak of COVID-19 constitutes a public health

emergency of international concern.

In the Philippines, while the crisis of COVID-19 has impacted people of all walks of life,

there is an unheard-of aspect to the insecure elderly. A certain study that relates with the inter-agency

task force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases established in its Guidelines

that any person under the age of 21 years of age, those under the age of 60 years of age or older, those

with co-morbidity, immunodeficiency or other health threats, and pregnant women, including any

person residing with the said person, are required to remain in their residence. With these rules, the

movement of senior citizens has been restricted and has been especially influenced by certain social

attributes. Restricted exercise has influenced people's dietary and lifestyle habits as people appear to

pursue immune-boosting herbs/nutrients and have replaced outdoor activities with sedentary indoor

performances. Moreover, household confinement was also linked with unhealthful dietary habits as

people reported an increase in the frequency of consuming unhealthful food, eating out of control,

snacking between meals, and an increase in the number of meals per day. During a pandemic-

associated national quarantine, a large percentage of people can experience variations in dietary

behaviors, increased eating and snacking, and weight transformation (Liday, 2021). Another study
states that in the Philippines, 64% of the respondents found ways to be more physically healthy than

before COVID-19, the highest percentage than all of the other markets surveyed. Yet, in terms of

tracking their mental health status, only 27% had adopted this new habit since the outbreak started in

the Philippines. Despite that, health consciousness is on the rise and lifestyle habits are undoubtedly

becoming healthier in both body and mind. Of the respondents, 33% said they have already started to

monitor their health KPIs closely. During the next 18 months this is set to grow, with 52% looking to

find ways to be more physically healthy, 20% tracking their mental health and 25% watching their

health indicators, such as blood pressure and blood sugar level, more closely (Manulife, 2020).

After numerous dilemmas and also based on our personal experiences, we researchers, came

up with an idea to conduct a research study that aims to investigate lifestyle changes experienced by

ESSU students in terms of dietary changes, sleeping pattern, leisure activity and mental health amidst

the COVID-19 pandemic.