Mal J Nutr 30(1): 031-041, 2024

Eating behaviour and lifestyle changes among college

students in Malaysia during the Movement Control
Order (MCO)
Anis Suraya Muhamad Azmi1, Nur Islami Mohd Fahmi Teng1* & Norsham
Juliana2
1
Centre for Dietetics Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Selangor, Malaysia; 2Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam
Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Introduction: COVID-19 lockdown has been linked to alterations in eating

behaviour and a sedentary lifestyle. As human-to-human transmission rapidly
increased, the Movement Control Order (MCO) was put in place as an attempt to
minimise the risk of the virus spreading in the community. This study aimed to
determine whether eating behaviour was associated with sleep quality and physical
activity among college students in Malaysia during MCO. Methods: This was a
cross-sectional study among Malaysian students aged between 20 to 34 years old. A
simple random sampling method was applied and the participants had to complete
an online survey consisting of a validated Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire
(DEBQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and International Physical Activity
Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ-SF), distributed via an online platform. Results:
A total of 370 students participated, with 22.4% emotional eaters, 58.6% external
eaters, and 23.0% restrained eaters. In addition, 64.3% had poor sleep quality,
while 57.6% claimed to be physically active. However, no correlations were found
between all eating behaviour subscales with sleep quality and physical activity.
Conclusion: More than half of college students presented with external eating
behaviours. Early screening and further investigations should be done, especially
with the high rate of poor sleepers, to promote and sustain a healthy lifestyle during
and beyond COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19, eating behaviour, lifestyle, movement control order

INTRODUCTION it has swiftly spread from China to the

rest of the world and the pandemic has
The official term the World Health
not been halted. WHO (2024) reported
Organization (WHO) issued for the newly
a cumulative of 61.2 million confirmed
discovered respiratory disease was
cases in South-East Asia from January
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
2020 to January 2024.
COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus
As human-to-human transmission
first found in Wuhan, Hubei Province,
was rapidly increasing and much
China, in late December 2019 (WHO,
about the virus remained unknown, on
2020). Since the disease’s discovery,
__________________________
*Corresponding author: Nur Islami Mohd Fahmi Teng
Centre for Dietetic Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-3258 4540; Fax: 03-3258 4540; E-mail: [email protected]
doi: https://doi.org/10.31246/mjn-2022-0054
32 Azmi ASM, Teng NIMF & Juliana N

March 18, 2020, the Malaysian Prime stress levels (Al-Musharaf, 2020). In a
Minister issued a Movement Control global study of higher education students
Order (MCO) to minimise virus spread in Malaysia, it was concluded that poor
in the community and to lift the burden sleep quality, poor diet, and physical
and exhaustion of the country’s health inactivity were associated with stressful
system. Lockdown restrictions were event and this affected students’ health
deemed required to halt the pathogen’s behaviours (Du et al., 2021).
spread. Throughout the observation Eating behaviour is a broad term that
period of MCO, outdoor activities were includes food choice motives, dietary
restricted and people were only allowed habits, and eating disorders (Viana &
to go outside for essential purposes Sinde, 2008, as cited in LaCaille et al.,
such as groceries shopping and medical- 2013). For example, Freitas et al. (2018)
related care. Malaysians were also defined eating behaviour as psychosocial
barred from going abroad. Likewise, factors and attitudes associated with
foreigners were not permitted entry food selection. Psychological, societal,
during MCO. Additionally, many sectors cultural, environmental, and economic
unlisted for operation were ordered to variables can all be factors that impact
close; most employees were told to work or change eating behaviour, which can
from home and students were advised to significantly influence an individual’s
adapt to online distance learning (ODL). health (LaCaille et al., 2013). A study
With these sudden lifestyle changes, among college students in the United
Malaysians responded with uncertainty States by Son et al. (2020) stated that
when the MCO declaration was made most (26%) reported that their food intake
(Azlan et al., 2020). had increased because of COVID-19. The
The new norm amidst the COVID-19 findings were consistent with a study
outbreak has contributed to a among adults in Poland, where over
transformation in everyone’s lifestyle. 43.0% and nearly 52% reported eating
Staying at home, working from home, and snacking more (Sidor & Rzymski,
online distance learning, limited outdoors 2020). A similar trend was reported
and social contact, or working several among Malaysian university students
hours under stressful conditions while working remotely, whereby increased
handling the associated health hazards eating, snacking, cooking, and online
have substantially affected everyday food ordering were observed, leading to
functioning and sleeping. According to a weight gain (Chen et al., 2021).
study conducted in Spain, a combination Distant online classes owing to
of dietary changes, low physical activity, COVID-19 and lockdowns were one
and more sedentary behaviour during of the most regularly mentioned
quarantine was associated with poorer difficulties in studies among university
sleep quality (Martínez-de-Quel et al., students in Malaysia. The most pressing
2021). At the same time, Wang et al. issue was poor internet connection,
(2020) identified many psychological which interrupted online learning
effects of COVID-19 in China during the (Chakraborty et al., 2020; Sundarasen
early wave of the pandemic, including et al., 2020). It was particularly startling
elevated stress levels. Besides, among to learn that some students used their
young Saudi women, stress has been smartphones to attend online classes for
linked to overeating, whereby many six to eight hours daily, contributing to
snacks and fast food intakes were unmanageable stress and other health
significantly associated with higher problems (Sundarasen et al., 2020).
 Eating behaviour during COVID-19 lockdown in Malaysia 33

Excessive screen use, according to Sampling method

students, caused stress and disrupted The sampling for this study was carried
sleep (Chakraborty et al., 2020). out using probability sampling through
Since the COVID-19 outbreak is a simple random sampling method. A
still new and ongoing in Malaysia, formula by Krejcie & Morgan (1970) was
more research is needed, specifically on used to determine the sample size for
eating behaviour and lifestyle changes this study. According to the formula, the
among Malaysian college students sample size needed for this study was
during MCO. Thus, this study was 384 participants.
carried out to determine whether eating
behaviour assessed with the Dutch Data collection method
Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) Data were collected using a self-reported
was associated with sleep quality and questionnaire via Google Forms and the
physical activity among the college link was shared on social media such
student population in Malaysia during as WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat,
COVID-19. Twitter, and Facebook. Using social
media platforms gave a higher chance
MATERIALS AND METHODS of recruiting random participants as
they were used by many, especially
Study population
college students, who were practising
A quantitative-based cross-sectional
new norms through online distance
study was conducted among college
learning during the pandemic. The
students in Malaysia on eating
participants had to click on the link
behaviour, sleep quality, and physical
provided and would be navigated to the
activity during the COVID-19 lockdown/
Google Form page directly. In addition, a
MCO. Data were collected from June
short overview of the study’s purpose, an
to July 2021, when the COVID-19
informed consent form, and instructions
outbreak was still ongoing. MCO in
on answering the questionnaire were
Malaysia began on March 18, 2020 and
provided. Only those who provided their
was halted on August 1, 2021. During
digital consent were directed to the
this period, Malaysians underwent
questionnaire. Participants were required
different phases of MCO and SOPs, such
to complete four questionnaire sections.
as minimal contact with other people
Section A consisted of sociodemographic
and no interstate travelling allowed until
backgrounds such as age, weight,
full vaccination was implemented. This
height, nationality, and college. Section
study involved a population of Malaysian
B consisted of 33 questions regarding
young adults between 20 to 34 years old
participants’ eating behaviour, followed
who were college students residing in
by sections C and D, with 19 questions
Malaysia when the survey was conducted
on sleep quality and seven on physical
and had access to a smartphone and
activity during the COVID-19 lockdown,
the internet. Those who practised food
respectively.
restrictions or had food allergies due
to illness, such as celiac disease or
Materials/Tools
Inborn Error of Metabolism (IEM), were
The materials/tools used in this study
excluded from this study. Statistics on
were the English and Malay language
the young adult population (age 15-64
versions of the Dutch Eating Behaviour
years), retrieved from the official website
Questionnaire (DEBQ) to assess the
of the Department of Statistics Malaysia,
participants’ eating behaviour, the
was 23.4 million individuals.
34 Azmi ASM, Teng NIMF & Juliana N

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) items were open-ended questions and
to assess participants’ sleep quality, the rest were scored through a four-point
and the International Physical Activity Likert scale with a range of 0 to 3, where
Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ-SF) 0 indicated no difficulty and 3 indicated
to assess participants’ physical activity severe difficulty. Finally, the scores for
during COVID-19 lockdown. each subscale were added together to
generate a PSQI score and poor sleepers
Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire were indicated by a cut-off score of more
(DEBQ) than five. For both healthy and clinical
Eating behaviour was assessed using the populations with mental and physical
validated DEBQ (Subramaniam et al., health conerns, this measure has shown
2017). This instrument assessed three high reliability and validity (Guo et al.,
unhealthy eating behaviours: emotional 2016).
eating, which is the tendency to cope
with negative emotions; restrained International Physical Activity
eating, which is the tendency to restrict Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ-SF)
food intake in order to control body Physical activity was assessed using
weight; and external eating, which refers the validated IPAQ-SF (Craig et al.,
to the extent to which external cues of 2003). This metric measured the types
food trigger eating episode. It comprised of physical activity people engaged in
33 items of a five-point Likert scale: daily to calculate the total physical
13 items on emotional eating and ten activity in metabolic equivalent (MET)-
items each for external and restrained minutes/week. IPAQ-SF comprised
eating. The score ranged from “never” seven open-ended questions requiring
(score 1), “rarely” (score 2), “sometimes” participants to recall their physical
(score 3), “often” (score 4), to “very often” activity for the last seven days. IPAQ
(score 5). The score for each item was scores were divided into two categories:
added together and further divided by physically inactive and physically
the number of items in the subscale to active. Individuals with low levels were
get an overall score per subscale. Higher categorised as physically inactive and
scores suggested a higher likelihood those with moderate and vigorous levels
of displaying the subscale behaviour were categorised as physically active.
and a cut-off score of 3.25 was used to The categories for physically inactive
indicate potential emotional, external, or and physically active were divided based
restrained eaters. on metabolic equivalent scores (MET-
minutes/week), which were calculated
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) based on the IPAQ-SF criteria (moderate
The participants’ sleep quality was level = at least 600 MET-minutes/week,
assessed using the PSQI (Farah, Teh vigorous level = at least 1500 MET-
& Mohd Rasdi, 2019). PSQI collected minutes/week). Those who did not
data on participants’ sleep quality from meet the criteria were categorised as
the previous month. It consisted of 19 physically inactive. The MET-minutes/
items divided into seven subscales: one week was calculated as MET level x
item for sleep quality, two items for sleep minutes of activity/day x days per week.
latency, one item for sleep duration, IPAQ-SF was more feasible and did not
three items for sleep efficiency, nine put too much burden on the participants
items for sleep disturbance, one item to recall their physical activities since it
for sleep medication, and two items for was self-administered.
daytime dysfunction. In addition, four
 Eating behaviour during COVID-19 lockdown in Malaysia 35

Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the participants (N=370)

n (%) Mean±SD
Baseline characteristic Male Female Total Male Female Total
(n=85) (n=285) (N=370) (n=85) (n=285) (N=370)
Age (20-27) 21.8±1.3 21.9±1.2 21.9±1.2
Body mass index (kg/m2) 24.5±7.4 21.6±4.6 22.2±5.5
Residency
Urban 45 (52.9) 174 (61.1) 219 (59.2)
Rural 40 (47.1) 111 (38.9) 151 (40.8)
Living status
Family 81 (95.3) 274 (96.1) 355 (95.9)
Friends 0 (0.0) 1 (0.4) 1 (0.3)
Alone 0 (0.0) 2 (0.7) 2 (0.5)
Hostel 4 (4.7) 8 (2.8) 12 (3.2)
Financial status
Family 37 (43.5) 140 (49.1) 177 (47.8)
Scholarship 13 (15.3) 28 (9.8) 41 (11.1)
Loan 31 (36.5) 114 (40.0) 145 (39.2)
Part-time job 1 (1.2) 3 (1.1) 4 (1.1)
Full-time job 3 (3.5) 0 (0.0) 3 (0.8)

Data analysis RESULTS

Descriptive statistics were presented
Participants’ characteristics
as frequency and percentage. Data on
A total of 370 participants returned
self-reported body weight and height
complete forms. As shown in Table 1,
were used to compute Body Mass Index
285 participants (77%) were females,
(BMI). Meanwhile, continuous variables
while the remaining 85 participants
were presented as means and standard
(23%) were male college students, with
deviations. Pearson’s Correlation
an average age of 21.9 years and a BMI
Coefficient was used to analyse the
of 22.2 kg/m². The participants came
correlations between the independent
from both urban and rural areas, with a
variable (eating behaviour) and
majority of 219 participants (59.2%) and
dependent variables (sleep quality and
151 participants (40.8%), respectively.
physical activity). IBM SPSS Statistics
Most of the students (355 participants,
for Windows Version 20.0 (IBM Corp.,
95.9%) lived with their families and only
Armonk, New York, USA) was used to
one participant (0.3%) lived with friends.
carry out all statistical analyses of this
Mostly, their source of income came from
study. The significance level was set at a
their families (177 participants, 47.8%),
standard p-value of 0.05, two-tailed.
and for three participants (0.8%) from a
full-time job (see Table 1).
Ethical approval
Ethical approval for this study was
Participants’ lifestyle
granted by the Universiti Teknologi
Table 2 presents the data for each
MARA Research Ethics Committee (UG/
questionnaire used. DEBQ concluded
MR/567).
that most participants did not engage in
36 Azmi ASM, Teng NIMF & Juliana N

emotional eating (77.6%) and restrained of 0.27, 0.39, and 0.93, respectively.
eating behaviours (77.0%). However, For physical activity, p-values of 0.26,
more than half of the participants were 0.32, and 0.23 were found, respectively.
external eaters (58.6%). PSQI indicated Both findings showed no significant
that 238 (64.3%) participants had poor associations (p>0.05). Pearson
sleep quality, with an average score of correlation analysis also presented a
8.24; the rest, 132 (35.7%) participants, negligible correlation between eating
reported good sleep quality, with an behaviour and sleep quality (see
average score of 4.11 when a cut-off Table 3).
point of five was used. Finally, IPAQ-SF
reported that 213 (57.6%) participants Correlations between eating
were deemed to be physically active, with behaviour with sleep quality
an average MET score of 2722.7. The components
remaining 157 (42.4%) participants were Table 4 shows the correlations of
physically inactive, with an average MET eating behaviour with sleep quality
score of 183.3. Generally, the physically components. For the emotional eating
active and inactive participants seemed subscale, only sleep latency (p<0.001),
not to have a huge difference (see sleep disturbance (p<0.05), and sleep
Table 2). medication usage (p<0.05) components
depicted significant results, but
Correlations between eating with weak correlations. However,
behaviour with sleep quality and other components showed negligible
physical activity correlations. External eating presented
In Table 3, the correlation between eating only one significant finding – the
behaviour, which consisted of emotional sleep duration (p<0.05) component,
eating, external eating, and restrained nevertheless, the Pearson correlation
eating, with sleep quality had a p-value showed a negative correlation. The

Table 2. Participants’ eating behaviour, sleep quality, and physical activity level assessed by
various questionnaires (N=370)
n (%)
Variable Mean±SD
Male (n=85) Female (n=285) Total (n=370)
DEBQ subscales
Emotional eating 22 (25.9) 61 (21.4) 83 (22.4) 3.81±0.05
Non-emotional eating 63 (74.1) 224 (78.6) 287 (77.6) 2.33±0.03
External eating 46 (54.1) 171 (60.0) 217 (58.6) 3.77±0.03
Non-external eating 39 (45.9) 114 (40.0) 153 (41.4) 2.84±0.03
Restrained eating 26 (30.6) 75 (26.3) 101 (27.3) 3.78±0.04
Non-restrained eating 59 (69.4) 210 (73.7) 269 (72.7) 2.32±0.04
PSQI
Poor sleep quality (>5) 56 (65.9) 182 (63.9) 238 (64.3) 8.24±2.23
Good sleep quality (≤5) 29 (34.1) 103 (36.1) 132 (35.7) 4.11±1.05
IPAQ-SF
Physically active 53 (62.4) 160 (56.1) 213 (57.6) 2722.7±2704.5
Physically inactive 32 (37.6) 125 (43.9) 157 (42.4) 183.3±193.2
DEBQ: Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire; PSQI: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; IPAQ-
SF: International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short form
IPAQ unit = MET minutes/week
 Eating behaviour during COVID-19 lockdown in Malaysia 37

Table 3. Correlations between eating behaviour subscales with sleep quality and physical
activity (N=370)
Sleep quality Physical activity
Variable
r (p-value) r (p-value)
Emotional eating 0.06 (0.27) 0.06 (0.26)
External eating 0.05 (0.39) 0.05 (0.32)
Restrained eating -0.01 (0.93) 0.06 (0.23)

restrained eating subscale also revealed central China (Sze et al., 2021). The low
no significant results (see Table 4). range of emotional eaters might be due
to the generalisation of the whole college
DISCUSSION student population in the country since
only several provinces in central China
This study assessed the prevalence of
were selected for the studies. However,
Malaysian college students engaged
another finding from Che Ladin & Chin
with eating behaviour subscales,
(2021) reported a high prevalence of
including emotional eating, external
Malaysian adults who experienced
eating, restrained eating, sleep quality
emotional eating (54%). Similarly,
level, and physical activity during MCO
this study revealed that almost half of
of COVID-19. Generally, the DEBQ
the participants (45.7%) presented as
emotional eating subscale is widely used
emotional eaters. Therefore, the cases of
to define individuals with emotional
emotional eating among college students
eating, which measures an individual’s
in Malaysia were quite high during the
urge to eat under unfavourable emotional
COVID-19 lockdown.
states such as stress, boredom, and
Regarding sleep quality in Malaysia,
depression (Frayn & Knäuper, 2017).
the latest study in 2019 reported that
Emotional eating disorders have been
about 45% of adults had poor sleep before
more common during COVID-19 (Al-
the COVID-19 wave hit Malaysia (Farah
Musharaf, 2020). Still, the prevalence
et al., 2019). The percentage of poor
of emotional eating during COVID-19
sleepers among adults was considered
among college students ranged from 4.5%
high even before the pandemic, almost
to 52.7% in several studies conducted in

Table 4. Correlations between sleep quality components with eating behaviour subscales
(N=370)
Emotional eating External eating Restrained eating
Variables
r (p-value) r (p-value) r (p-value)
PSQI
C1 (Subjective sleep quality) -0.01 (0.86) 0.04 (0.46) -0.09 (0.07)
C2 (Sleep latency) 0.17 (0.00)* 0.09 (0.08) 0.07 (0.21)
C3 (Sleep duration) -0.09 (0.08) -0.11 (0.04)* -0.04 (0.40)
C4 (Sleep efficiency) 0.02 (0.67) 0.06 (0.27) -0.02 (0.72)
C5 (Sleep disturbance) 0.11 (0.03)* 0.07 (0.21) 0.10 (0.07)
C6 (Use of sleep medication) 0.10 (0.05)* 0.04 (0.49) 0.07 (0.21)
C7 (Daytime dysfunction) -0.03 (0.62) 0.04 (0.51) -0.03 (0.55)
PSQI: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
*p≤0.05
38 Azmi ASM, Teng NIMF & Juliana N

reaching half. In this study, Malaysian between those physically active (57.1%)
college students labelled as poor and inactive (42.9%) were insignificant
sleepers reached 65%, presenting no in this study.
improvement in terms of sleep quality. Shen et al. (2020) stated that
In line with other studies, 44.5% of higher levels of perceived stress are
individuals were reportedly poor sleepers linked to a stronger inclination towards
and this might be linked to higher levels emotional eating. A correlation between
of stress and anxiety during lockdown emotional eating and sleep quality could
(Pérez-Rodrigo et al., 2020; Stanton exist because there is a link between
et al., 2020; Voitsidis, Huang & Xhao, stress with emotional eating and sleep
2020, as cited in Celorio-Sardà et al., quality. Negative emotions are linked to
2021). Trabelsi et al. (2021) explained emotional eating, which may influence
that the COVID-19 lockdown resulted sleep quality. In a study by Geiker et al.
in poor sleep quality as the percentage (2017), as cited in Saleh-Ghadimi et al.
of those who had good sleep quality fell (2019), a link between emotional stress
from 61% before the lockdown to 48% and sleep was presented, which caused
after the lockdown. Lifestyle changes the participants with a high emotional
during COVID-19, such as isolation and eating score to be more prone to poor
high usage of electronic devices, as well sleep quality. This was also supported by
as stressors, such as uncertainty about Dweck et al.’s (2014, as cited in Saleh-
one’s health or financial consequences, Ghadimi et al., 2019) study among
have been shown to impact sleep healthy women in the United States,
patterns negatively and cause high rates where poor sleepers had a considerably
of sleeplessness. Additionally, during higher emotional eating score.
the quarantine, participants (college To our knowledge, stress increased
students) spent more time on screens during the COVID-19 pandemic, which
due to online learning, which is closely disrupted normal lifestyle. However,
linked to increased sleep issues. This despite the evidence linking emotional
study on sleep quality showed that eating and sleep quality, this study
COVID-19 might contribute to a high reported no causal relationship
percentage of poor sleepers among between these two variables, whereby
college students in Malaysia. the elevation of PSQI scores did not
During the COVID-19 lockdown, necessarily increase DEBQ scores.
engagement with physical exercise This might be due to the different
reduced significantly (Celorio-Sardà questionnaires used to define emotional
et al., 2021; Trabelsi et al., 2021). eaters compared to previous studies.
Nevertheless, this study’s participants Besides, when all seven components
(57.1%) were physically active. The of sleep quality were analysed with
results were consistent with the latest emotional eating, only sleep latency,
report in Malaysia, whereby Malaysians sleep disturbance, and sleep medication
were physically active during MCO (Syed usage were significantly increased with
Shiekh & Marathamuthu, 2021). In the increasing score of emotional eating.
addition, these findings were consistent Still, the components did not certainly
with the studies conducted in Italy and represent a correlation with emotional
Spain, where individuals were reported eating, as no positive correlations within
to be more active during lockdown (Di the range of 0.30 to 1.00 were observed
Renzo et al., 2020; López-Bueno et al., in those three components.
2020, as cited in Ingram, Maciejewski & This study’s correlation between
Hand, 2020). Regardless, the difference eating behaviour and physical activity
 Eating behaviour during COVID-19 lockdown in Malaysia 39

also revealed no causal relationship. It Participants might have underreported

was likely that individuals in a negative or overreported the data based on their
mood experienced lower physical activity, ability to recall. Moreover, the survey
which would match earlier findings of form might need to be clearer from the
reduced physical activity when people participant’s point of view in terms of the
are socially isolated (Robbins et al., instructions given or the format style set
2018; Werneck et al., 2019, as cited for the questions. Next, a longitudinal
in Ingram et al., 2020). Nonetheless, study would have provided better and
existing research on the effects of more accurate insights than a cross-
stress on physical exercise presented sectional study to determine the impact
inconsistent findings. This study’s of MCO during COVID-19 on the changes
result was in line with a statement by in participants’ lifestyles. Furthermore,
Düz & Tuba Aytekeli (2020), in which as the study results were more inclined
DEBQ subscales and MET scores had no towards female participants, the sample
significant association. may not be representative. Finally,
Ingram et al. (2020) concluded that since the study was conducted during
relaxing lockdown restrictions result in the second half of 2021, whereby most
a rapid boost of positive mood. Here, no college students had already adjusted
more alterations were shown after, as to the new norms, the factors affecting
this might be due to the minor differences participants’ lifestyles might have lessen
in lockdown regulations that occurred compared to the first half of 2020, when
during the period. The participants were MCO had just started.
likely to have accommodated to the
lockdown situation. Thus, stress due to CONCLUSION
the COVID-19 lockdown might not be a
College students in Malaysia had poor
factor for poor sleep quality and lower
sleep quality during the COVID-19
physical activity. As a result, a link
lockdown. Although there were no
between eating behaviour, sleep quality,
correlations between emotional eating
and physical activity was not found.
with sleep quality and physical activity,
The strengths of this study would
findings are still at initial stages since
be the sufficient sample of young adult
only a few studies have been conducted
population, which provided a good
to assess the relationship between
influence to perform analyses. Besides,
emotional eating using DEBQ scores with
this study was also conducted to find the
PSQI and IPAQ-SF scores. In essence,
correlation between different variables
early screening of college students’
that could assist in comprehending the
lifestyles should be initiated in Malaysia.
existing links and further present us
This is to promote and sustain a healthy
with the realistic situation in today’s
lifestyle among college students. Further
world. Not to mention, the proportion
investigations can help counter the core
of participants from urban and rural
predictors of eating behaviour, sleep
areas was quite balanced, with minor
quality, and physical activity during and
differences in percentages, which
beyond COVID-19.
conveyed the generalisation of the study
population in Malaysia. Acknowledgement
Nevertheless, this study had a The authors express their highest gratitude to all
couple of limitations to note. Firstly, who have supported them throughout this study
response bias might have occurred and those who lent their time to fill out the survey
since the survey was self-reported. and gave their valuable input.
40 Azmi ASM, Teng NIMF & Juliana N

Conflict of interest Farah NM, Teh SY & Mohd Rasdi HF (2019). Self-
The authors declare no conflict of interest in this reported sleep quality using the Malay version
study. of the pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI-M)
in Malaysian adults. Int J Environ Res Public
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