Perception of body image, food consumption, sedentary behavior, and physical activity in a Brazilian academic population during the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic

The study evaluates the perception of body image associated with food consumption, sedentary behavior, and practice of physical activity responses during the lockdown in the academic population (e.g., students) from a Brazilian University. Four hundred fifteen participants answered an online survey with questions about the perception of body image change, food consumption changes, sedentary behavior, and physical activity during 1-31 May/2020. Frequencies were used to describe the sample, and associations between variables were performed by Chi-square test (p< 0.05). A negative perception of change in body image was found in both females and males (e.g., 73% and 55%, respectively). These perceptual changes were significantly associated with a perception of an increase in food consumption, watching TV and social media (more than 2 hours), and not practicing physical activity in females, and with an increase in food consumption in males. Our findings demonstrated that the COVID-19 lockdown affected negatively the perception of body image change in a Brazilian academic community, and this change has been associated with health-related behaviors. The results presented a general picture of behavioral responses during the COVID-19 outbreak in students in Brazil. Further steps are required to help this community in case of a similar condition in the future. El estudio evalúa la percepción de la imagen corporal asociada al consumo de alimentos, el comportamiento sedentario y las respuestas a la práctica de actividad física durante el confinamiento de la COVID-19 en la población académica de una universidad brasileña. Cuatrocientos y quince estudiantes respondieron un survey 1 al 31 de mayo de 2020. Se utilizaron frecuencias para describir los resultados y la prueba de Chi-Squared (p< 0,05) para las asociaciones. Se encontró una percepción negativa del cambio en la imagen corporal tanto en mujeres como en hombres (73% y 55%), significativamente asociada con una percepción de aumento en el consumo de alimentos, ver televisión y redes sociales (más de 2 horas), no practicar actividad física en mujeres y con el consumo de alimentos en hombres. Los resultados presentaron un panorama general de las respuestas de comportamiento durante la COVID-19 en estudiantes de Brasil, lo que sugiere que una percepción negativa del cambio de la imagen corporal se ha asociado con comportamientos relacionados con la salud, especialmente en las mujeres. O presente estudo avaliou a perce