{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T20:50:20Z","timestamp":1792702220484,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,24]],"date-time":"2025-03-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742774400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic and the preventive measures led to a change in the health behaviour among the population. Medical students were particularly affected by this. Previous studies primarily focused on few health behaviours, were mostly conducted in 2020\u20132021, and did not assess the persistence of these behaviours post-pandemic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A combined cross-sectional and longitudinal approach were applied to examine changes in physical activity, screen time, sleep duration and consumption of unhealthy foods, alcohol and of tobacco. Data from Medical Students at the Technical University of Dresden were collected online as part of the multicenter study \u201cMedical Student Health Survey\u201d in 2020 and 2022. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were applied.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Medical students (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f575) reported reduced physical activity and increased screen time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing lockdown and changed habits as main reasons. Longitudinal analysis of medical students (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f66) between 2020 and 2022 revealed increased physical activity (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f0.018) and decreased unhealthy food consumption (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f0.009) after the end of the pandemic. Screen time, sleep duration and consumption of alcohol and of tobacco products remained unchanged. Changes in health behaviours were not intercorrelated.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic led to change in health behaviour of medical students. However, intra-pandemic changes differing from pre-post pandemic changes and interindividual variations in health behaviour change were found. The rise in physical activity, the decreased consumption of unhealthy foods, and the low tobacco use reflect a health-aware cohort. The findings should inform the development of future preventive measures and further research is needed to understand the sustainability and broader impact of these health behaviour changes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1545295","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,24]],"date-time":"2025-03-24T05:13:29Z","timestamp":1742793209000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Changes in health behaviour of medical students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic\u2014focus on physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, unhealthy foods, alcohol, and tobacco"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Lukas","family":"Liebig","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Willy","family":"Gr\u00e4fe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hendrik","family":"Berth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"B\u00e9la","family":"Birk\u00e1s","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nora","family":"Faubl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Erika","family":"Zelko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Erika","family":"Balogh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Henna","family":"Riemenschneider","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1159\/000515438","article-title":"The effects of the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol and tobacco consumption behavior in Germany","volume":"27","author":"Koopmann","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur Addict Res"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2250","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19042250","article-title":"Changes in physical activity patterns due to the Covid-19 pandemic: a systematic review and Meta-analysis","volume":"19","author":"Wunsch","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22637","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-02024-5","article-title":"The impact of lockdown stress and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among university students in Germany","volume":"11","author":"Werner","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"ref4","volume-title":"Die Corona-Pandemie hat mir wertvolle Zeit genommen","author":"Andresen","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref5","first-page":"18","volume-title":"Verpasst? 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