Webinar’s effect on nutritional knowledge to enhance immunity during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: As of 31st December 2021, there have been 4,262,540 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 144,088 death cases in Indonesia. COVID-19 pandemic has affected the nutrition aspect, as an increasing number of undernutrition children also increases risk of obesity. Our group conducts webinars with the purpose of increasing public knowledge and awareness regarding general well-being: importance of adequate nutrition to increase immunity in the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the study is to examine webinar participants' knowledge before and after webinar. Method: The webinar conducted through a zoom meeting for 2 hours consists of 1 hour education and 1 hour question and answer session. The participants asked to fill a pretest before the webinar session and posttest after the webinar session. The results were statistically examined to determine the difference between pretest and posttest score. Results: The webinar participant’s demographic characteristics were dominated by 17-45 years old age group, high school graduates, and female participants. There is a significant difference (p<0.05) between pre and post-test score evaluated using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. After the webinar, there is a decreased number of participants with low-level nutritional knowledge from 31 to 23 participants. Conclusion: There is an increase in knowledge about the importance of adequate nutrition to increase immunity in the COVID-19 pandemic from pre and post-test data. Thus, this webinar contributes to providing knowledge to participants in supporting the strengthening of socialization of adequate nutrition during COVID-19 pandemic.