Table 3.
Food ordering patterns of the participating youths before COVID-19 and under lockdown, by educational level and sex
| Variables | High school students |
Undergraduate students |
Graduate students |
All |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| male (n = 678) | female (n = 2,146) | total (n = 2,824) | male (n = 2,106) | female (n = 4,918) | total (n = 7,024) | male (n = 68) | female (n = 166) | total (n = 234) | grand total (n = 10,082) | |
| Weekly frequency of food ordering | ||||||||||
| Pre-COVID-19 | ||||||||||
| None | 92.0 | 93.5 | 93.1 | 83.8 | 80.9 | 81.7 | 77.9 | 62.0 | 66.7 | 84.6 |
| 1–3 days/week | 6.5 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 11.2 | 16.0 | 14.6 | 19.1 | 26.5 | 24.4 | 12.3 |
| 4–6 days/week | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 1.6 |
| 7 days/week | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 7.2 | 5.1 | 1.5 |
| Lockdown, days/week | ||||||||||
| None | 95.4*** | 97.5*** | 97.0 *** | 93.4*** | 95.6 *** | 95.0 *** | 92.6*** | 97.0 *** | 95.7 *** | 95.6*** |
| 1–3 | 3.2*** | 1.9 *** | 2.2 *** | 4.4*** | 3.2 *** | 3.6 *** | 4.4*** | 3.0 *** | 3.4 *** | 3.2*** |
| 4–6 | 0.9*** | 0.3 *** | 0.4 *** | 1.1*** | 0.8 *** | 0.8 *** | 0.0*** | 0.0 *** | 0.0 *** | 0.7*** |
| 7 | 0.5*** | 0.3 * ** | 0.4 *** | 0.4 *** | 0.6 *** | 3.0*** | 0.0 *** | 0.9 *** | 0.5*** | |
| Average weekly frequency of food ordering, days/week | ||||||||||
| Pre-COVID-19 | 0.2±0.9 | 0.2±0.7 | 0.2±0.8 | 0.5±1.4 | 0.5±1.2 | 0.5±1.3 | 0.5±1.1 | 1.2±2.0 | 1.0±1.8 | 0.4±1.2 |
| Lockdown | 0.1±0.7* | 0.1±0.5*** | 0.1±0.6*** | 0.2±1 *** | 0.1±0.7*** | 0.2±0.8*** | 0.3±1.2 | 0.1±0.3*** | 0.1±0.7*** | 0.1±0.7*** |
| Individual-level changes in food ordering | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| Stopped ordering | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 10.5 | 16.1 | 14.4 | 16.2 | 36.1 | 30.3 | 12.1 |
| Increased | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Decreased | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Constant | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 2.4 |
| Never | 90.7 | 92.6 | 92.1 | 83.0 | 79.5 | 80.6 | 76.5 | 60.8 | 65.4 | 83.5 |
| Individual-level changes by ordering time | ||||||||||
| Breakfast | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Stopped ordering | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Constant | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Never | 97.8 | 98.7 | 98.5 | 97.7 | 98.4 | 98.2 | 100.0 | 98.8 | 99.1 | 98.3 |
| Lunch | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Stopped ordering | 3.7 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 8.3 | 12.2 | 11.0 | 10.3 | 28.9 | 23.5 | 8.9 |
| Constant | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Never | 95.3 | 96.3 | 96.0 | 87.9 | 85.3 | 86.1 | 83.8 | 68.7 | 73.0 | 88.6 |
| Dinner | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
| Stopped ordering | 1.3 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 6.7 | 8.7 | 8.1 | 10.3 | 22.3 | 18.8 | 6.6 |
| Constant | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Never | 96.9 | 96.9 | 96.9 | 90.2 | 89.0 | 89.3 | 85.3 | 75.3 | 78.2 | 91.2 |
| Midnight snack | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Stopped ordering | 1.3 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.8 |
| Constant | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Never | 96.6 | 97.0 | 96.9 | 94.5 | 95.6 | 95.3 | 98.5 | 97.6 | 97.9 | 95.8 |
| Individual-level changes by type of food ordered | ||||||||||
| Chinese dishes with rice | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Stopped ordering | 2.9 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 14.7 | 24.1 | 21.4 | 6.2 |
| Constant | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
| Never | 95.7 | 97.4 | 97.0 | 90.6 | 90.7 | 90.7 | 80.9 | 75.3 | 76.9 | 92.2 |
| (Spicy) hot pot | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Stopped ordering | 1.6 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 5.4 | 11.0 | 9.3 | 7.4 | 23.5 | 18.8 | 7.6 |
| Constant | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| Never | 96.9 | 95.8 | 96.0 | 91.6 | 86.6 | 88.1 | 91.1 | 74.1 | 79.0 | 90.1 |
| Fried foods or hamburgers | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.0 |
| Stopped ordering | 2.1 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 5.1 | 7.5 | 6.8 | 4.4 | 11.4 | 9.4 | 5.7 |
| Constant | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| Never | 96.4 | 96.0 | 96.1 | 91.7 | 90.1 | 90.6 | 92.6 | 86.7 | 88.5 | 92.0 |
| Cakes/pastries | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
| Stopped ordering | 1.5 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 7.1 | 5.9 | 2.9 | 13.9 | 10.7 | 4.9 |
| Constant | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Never | 97.5 | 96.6 | 96.8 | 94.6 | 90.8 | 92.0 | 97.1 | 84.3 | 88.0 | 93.2 |
| Simple western meals | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Stopped ordering | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 6.6 | 5.1 | 1.8 |
| Constant | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Never | 98.7 | 99.0 | 98.9 | 97.0 | 96.6 | 96.7 | 98.5 | 92.8 | 94.4 | 97.3 |
| Barbecue/grill | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Stopped ordering | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| Constant | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Never | 97.8 | 98.2 | 98.1 | 95.7 | 94.0 | 94.5 | 95.6 | 94.0 | 94.4 | 95.5 |
| Flour-based foods | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Stopped ordering | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 4.2 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 4.4 | 18.1 | 14.1 | 4.7 |
| Constant | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Never | 96.6 | 97.6 | 97.3 | 94.1 | 92.4 | 92.9 | 95.6 | 81.3 | 85.5 | 94.0 |
| Braised foods | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Stopped ordering | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Constant | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Never | 99.1 | 99.3 | 99.2 | 97.1 | 96.7 | 96.8 | 100.0 | 97.6 | 98.3 | 97.5 |
| Japanese/Korean foods | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Stopped ordering | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 7.2 | 5.6 | 1.5 |
| Constant | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Never | 99.3 | 99.5 | 99.4 | 97.9 | 96.9 | 97.2 | 98.5 | 92.8 | 94.4 | 97.8 |
| Other foods | ||||||||||
| Started ordering | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Stopped ordering | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.2 |
| Constant | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Never | 98.8 | 99.2 | 99.1 | 98 | 97.8 | 97.9 | 98.5 | 100 | 99.6 | 98.3 |
Values are given as a percentage or mean ± SD. SD, standard deviation. Values under a given variable were shown in bold, if the difference across educational levels (high school students, undergraduate students, and graduate students) within the overall population (total) or within a given sex (male and female) was significant (p < 0.05); shown in italic, if the difference between sexes within a given educational level was significant (p < 0.05); and marked by asterisks, if the difference before and after COVID-19 within a given educational level and sex was significant
*
p < 0.05
**
p < 0.01
***
p < 0.001).