Dissecting Supplement and Nutrients Intake of Adults with and without COVID-19 History through the Lens of Health Belief Model

Abstract

Over the past two years, the world has faced the pandemic, COVID-19, and various changes. Several regulations and recommendations from the Ministry of Health of Indonesia have contributed to behavioral changes among Indonesian residents, especially in food consumption patterns. The change in food consumption patterns can be a positive change that formed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine whether the application of a Health Belief Model (HBM)-based nutrition education programme can be effectively used in changing the beliefs of adults with or without a COVID-19 history in supplement and nutrient intake. This study was a cross-sectional study involving 140 adults. This study placed 70 adults with/without a COVID-19 history into the intervention group. The intervention group participated in a nutrition education programme. The respondents were asked to fill out the questionnaire. The data were analyzed by independent and paired t-tests and Chi-square test. The result of this study showed no association between perceived susceptibility, severity, benefit, barrier, and self-efficacy, of nutrient and supplement intake with the history of COVID-19 among the respondents. However, most of the respondents in this study were low in their scores of perceivedness. Thus, it is still important for the government to increase nutrient and supplement intake education, especially in young adults aged below 25 years old.