Differences in the Model of Eating in the Absence of Hunger Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The obesity rate among adults in Indonesia continues to increase, and even almost doubles in a decade. In the study of eating behavior, one of the causes of obesity is due to eating out of hunger. The study has proposed a conceptual model of eating in the absence of hunger [EAH]. EAH was examined through the influence of eating styles and hedonic hunger. In addition, the mediating role of palatable eating motives and loss of control over eating were also included in the model. In this paper, we mainly focused on the influence of environmental situation namely the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was necessary to see whether the COVID-19 pandemic situation would make a difference to the proposed model. The study aimed to compare data taken before COVID-19 with data taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study involved 753 respondents who were dominated by female and university students aged 18-25 years who were studying in Jakarta using convenience sampling. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. The data before the COVID-19 pandemic was collected in February -March 2020 by paper and pencil. The data during COVID-19 was collected using the online form in June-July 2020. Data were analyzed using multigroup analysis.

The analysis results denoted that the model proposed was fit with the data even though the two data groups were not invariant.

This means that special situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic have an impact on EAH.