Public nutritional Knowledge toward the COVID-19 among Palestinian Population: A Cross- Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease that affected multiple countries and sustained person-to-person transmission making it a concerning and serious public health threat. This pandemic has emphasized that good nutrition and a healthy life is the key to strengthening immunity. Aim of the study: To assess knowledge of nutrition toward the COVID-19 among the Palestinian population. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was launched at West Bank and Gaza Strip. A total number of 554 participants have shared the completion of this survey and the response rate was 90.2%. Results: The mean level of knowledge among participants was 65.38% and the study indicated that 55.8% behaving healthy nutritional habits. The analysis revealed that the mean score of knowledge increased by 1.61 comparing the oldest age groups (>30 years) against the youngest group. As the same as, the knowledge mean score increased by 2.46 among the obese individuals according to BMI classification (>30). Whereas, the knowledge mean score was increased significantly among those who work in medical sectors compared to others unemployed individuals. As well, the knowledge score increased by 2.04 among individuals with comorbidity than healthy ones. Conclusion: Nutritional knowledge score during COVID-19 was 67.03% and the knowledge about the body immunity system and the protective measures against COVID-19, scored a weighted mean of 76.21%. The level of knowledge among all participants did not reflect a satisfactory level of knowledge among the public regard COVID-19 while the level of behaving healthy nutritional habits illustrated that nearly 45% of the participants were practicing unhealthy nutritional behaviors. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 22 No. 01 January’23 Page : 57-67

Analysis of the nutritional status in the Palestinian territory: a review study

“…In one study, waterpipe smoking was also strongly associated with increased BMI ( 99 ). The impact of COVID-19 was also studied in terms of decreasing physical activity, increasing dietary intake, and smoking, which is significantly associated with increasing BMI among Palestinians ( 97 , 100 , 104 ). One study discussing the effect of obesity during pregnancy and its consequences found that among pregnant women with class III obesity, 5% suffered from hypertensive disorders, and 13.9% delivered large babies ( 101 ).…”