Covid-19 And Its Impacts On Students' Attitudes And Behaviours Related To Proper Nutrition, Alcohol Consumption, And Smoking.

10.62591/ajpa.2025.13.05

Abstract

Albania has experienced tremendous political, social, and economic transformation throughout the 1990s. Among these have been modifications to nutrition, both in terms of quantity and quality. Most people now live in better conditions thanks to the move in the political system towards a free-market economy, which also resulted in more cars on the road. As a result, there was a surge in both environmental pollution and population inactivity, which has been connected to obesity and overweight in all age categories. For children and young people, unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity have the biggest effects. This study, which involves students from the Faculty of Physical Activity and Recreation practically every year, aimed to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as alcohol and cigarette use, in first-year bachelor's students. The study's main goal was to determine whether the Corona virus epidemic had any influence on the results. 140 students were chosen at random between October and November 2021, with a mean age of 18.69 years (58.75% male and 41.42% female participants). The results indicate that some sports university students may benefit from studying a sports nutrition module as well as nutritional and health promotion programs to lessen this propensity, especially in male students, even though the general prevalence of overweight and obesity in the sample investigated is low. We believe that the rise in alcohol and cigarette use since the end of our previous study in 2019 is likely due to isolation during COVID-19, either out of boredom or to deal with tension and anxiety levels that have been reported to rise across the board in all demographic groups.