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

Authors

  • Atef Masad Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Israa University-Gaza, Palestine
  • Khalid Jamal Khadoura Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Israa University-Gaza, Palestine
  • Ayman Abu Mustafa Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Israa University- Gaza, Palestine, Nursing School, Ministry of health, Gaza Strip, Palestine
  • Hazem Agha Assistant Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine
  • Faten Allyan Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Israa University-Gaza, Palestine
  • Shahenaz Najjar Faculty of Graduate Studies, Arab American University, Ramallah, Palestine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v22i1.61852

Keywords:

COVID-19; Nutritional knowledge; Nutritional habits; Immunity.

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

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Published

2023-01-01

How to Cite

Masad, A. ., Khadoura, K. J., Mustafa, A. A. ., Agha, H. ., Allyan, F., & Najjar, S. . (2023). Public nutritional Knowledge toward the COVID-19 among Palestinian Population: A Cross- Sectional Study. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, 22(1), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v22i1.61852

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Atef Masad, Khalid Jamal Khadoura, Ayman Abu Mustafa, Hazem Agha, Faten Allyan, Shahenaz Najjar

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