Individual, Sociodemographic, and Environmental Factors Related to Physical Activity During the Spring 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown

Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Levels during Second Period of Lockdown in Chilean’s Schoolchildren: How Bad Is It?

Objective. The objective of this study was to compare the levels of sedentary behaviour and physical activity in relation to sociodemographic variables of Chilean schoolchildren before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. This retrospective study considered a non-random sample of 83 boys and 232 girls, and their respective parents, who attended public schools (n = 119) and private schools (n = 196) in Chile. A self-report instrument was applied that included sociodemographic variables, sedentary behaviour (SB), and physical activity (PA) in the second period of the pandemic in 2021. Results. The main results show that pre-pandemic SB had significant differences when compared between sexes, except for television time. During the pandemic, there was no significant difference in television time or telephone time. There were no significant differences by sex before and during the pandemic. When comparing the SB scores, video game time in boys decreased (p < 0.001), as did video game time in girls (p < 0.001), and computer time in boys (p < 0.001) and girls (p < 0.001). Telephone time increased in boys (p < 0.001) and girls (p < 0.001), as did television time (p < 0.001). Likewise, PA increased in boys (Δ + 9.51min) and girls (Δ + 3.54 min) during the pandemic (p < 0.001). Conclusions. Both PA and SB underwent changes according to sex before and during the second period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chilean schoolchildren.

Understanding physical activity declines during COVID-19: The affective repercussions of disruption to exercise routines

Recent research has examined psychological factors that forestalled declines in physical activity (PA) during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surprisingly, there has been limited evidence of an association between intrinsic motivation (IM) and PA. We reasoned that IM may have not predicted PA because COVID-19 restrictions limited opportunities to engage in exercise in ways that produced positive affective experiences (i.e., inherent rewards). Using data from a cross-sectional survey (N = 373 participants), we tested a moderated mediation model that predicted perceived changes to affective experiences during exercise would mediate the association between disruption to one's exercise routine and self-reported declines in PA, and that effects would be moderated by IM. Evidence of moderated mediation was found, suggesting that disruptions to exercise routines were associated with fewer positive affective experiences during exercise that predicted declines in PA engagement, especially for people who typically exercised for intrinsic reasons.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Physical Fitness of Primary School Students in China Based on the Bronfenbrenner Ecological Theory

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, nation lockdown became an effective way to isolate the spread of the virus. Schools were postponed, students had to stay at home and opportunities for physical activity amongst school children were severely affected. This research sought to determine the impact of the pandemic on the physical fitness of primary school students. In total, 1,235 students from grades one to five in a primary school in Beijing took part in this research. Using the Chinese National Student Physical Fitness Standard as a guide, the students were subjected to BMI, vital capacity, 50 m sprint, sit and reach, timed rope-skipping, timed sit-ups, and 50m × 8 shuttle run measurements. These tests were administered once before and once after the lockdown period. The results showed that the overall physical fitness of the participants was better after the lockdown [p = 0.000, r = -0.14, 95% CI (-0.219, -0.061)]. Specifically, vital capacity, sit and reach, timed rope-skipping and timed sit-ups had improved after the lockdown. Meanwhile, 50m × 8 shuttle run dropped slightly but not significantly whereas 50 m sprint dropped sharply after the lockdown. The proportion of overweight and obese students increased, but the difference before and after the lockdown was small. It appeared that during the pandemic, through the intervention of many comprehensive factors, home-based fitness was normalized and promoted the healthy development of students.

The Determinants of Walking Behavior before and during COVID-19 in Middle-East and North Africa: Evidence from Tabriz, Iran

To support the global strategy to raise public health through walking among adults, we added the evidence on predictors of walking behavior in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by emphasizing the mediator—COVID-19. During the COVID-19 outbreak, public restrictions to encompass the spread of the disease have disrupted normal daily lifestyles, including physical activity and sedentary behavior. It was proposed that tremendous changes have occurred on predictors of physical activity in general and walking behavior in particular for three types of walking, including commute, non-commute, and social walking compared to pre-COVID-19 time. This study aimed to identify the determinants of the walking types mentioned above, including subjective and objective variables before COVID-19, and compare them during the COVID-19 period in a sample from Iran, which has not yet been addressed in previous research. Adults (N = 603) finalized an online survey between June 5 and July 15, 2021. This group reported their individual/socioeconomic locations (e.g., home/work) and perception features before and during COVID-19. The paper developed six Binary Logistic (BL) regression models, with two models for each walking type (commute, non-commute, and social walking). For commute trips before COVID-19, the findings showed that factors including BMI, residential duration, p. (perceived) neighborhood type, p. distance to public transport stations and job/university places, p. sidewalks quality, p. facilities attractiveness, p. existence of shortcut routes, commute distance, building density and distance to public transport were correlated with commute walking. At the same time, such associations were not observed for BMI, p. distance to public transport and job/university places, p. facilities attractiveness, building density, and distance to public transport during COVID-19. The variables include age, possession of a driving license, number of family members, p. neighborhood type, p. distance to grocery, restaurant, parking, and mall, p. existence of sidewalks, land-use mix, and distance to public transport indicated correlations with non-commute before COVID-19. However, p. distance to groceries and malls and the p. existence of sidewalks did not correlate with non-commute walking during COVID-19. Ultimately for social walking, age and income variables, and the considerable proportions of subjective variables (e.g., p. distance to services/land-uses, security, etc.), health status and building density were correlated with social walking before COVID-19. Nevertheless, most of the mentioned variables did not explicitly correlate with social walking during COVID-19. As for the implication of our study, apparently, special actions will be needed by urban authorities to encourage adults to enhance their walkability levels by fully considering both objective and subjective indicators and walking types, which will result in healthier lifestyles.

On the Move or Barely Moving? Age-Related Changes in Physical Activity, Sedentary, and Sleep Behaviors by Weekday/Weekend Following Pandemic Control Policies

This study examined pre-pandemic (2017-early March 2020) to early-pandemic (Spring 2020) changes in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), light PA (LPA), and sedentary behavior/sleep (SS), by weekday/weekend, and age (preschool, elementary, middle school). We re-enrolled children from two pre-pandemic obesity prevention trials and examined differences in accelerometer-measured PA from pre-pandemic to early-pandemic across age groups using linear mixed models. Children (n = 75) were 51% multiple race/ethnicities, 29% preschool, 28% elementary, 43% middle school, 65% suburban, 21% rural, and 13% urban. Pre-pandemic to early-pandemic changes in weekday MVPA (p = 0.006), LPA (p = 0.018), and SS (p = 0.003) differed by age. On weekdays, middle schoolers' MVPA decreased 15.36 min/day (p = 0.002) and SS increased 94.36 min/day (p < 0.001) with non-significant changes among preschoolers and elementary schoolers. Compared to elementary schoolers, middle schoolers' changes in weekday MVPA (b = -16.34, p = 0.036) and SS (b = 63.28, p = 0.039) significantly differed. Declines in weekday MVPA and increases in SS among middle schoolers suggest that, compared with younger children, middle schoolers are dependent on school and recreational facilities for PA, and in their absence engage in more sedentary activities and sleep.

Stay home and stay active? The impact of stay-at-home restrictions on physical activity routines in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic

We investigated which population groups were impacted most in terms of physical activity levels during the restrictions applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed UK residents, sampled through users of a rewards-for-exercise app (Sweatcoin; n = 749) and an online panel (Prolific; n = 907). Of the app users, n = 487 further provided daily step-count data collected by the app, prior to, and during the periods of restrictions in the UK between March-June 2020. Regression models were used to investigate factors associated with self-reported change in physical activity and change in daily step-count during the periods of restrictions. Significant factors associated with self-reported change in physical activity included rural residents (positive, b = 0.87, p < 0.001), relative to urban dwellers, people classed as obese (negative, b = -0.51, p = 0.008, relative to healthy weight) and gym users (negative, b = -1.10, p < 0.001, relative to walkers). All groups had reduced step counts during restrictions, with Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups showing greater reductions compared to White British ethnicity (negative, b = -0.18, p = 0.008). Targeted interventions are required to ensure that physical and mental health impacts of sedentary behaviour are not exacerbated over the long-term by significant reductions in physical activity identified in these groups particularly those who are also more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Promoting physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown in Australia: The roles of psychological predictors and commercial physical activity apps

PURPOSE

Physical activity confers many physical and mental health benefits. Thus, it is of great concern that the COVID-19 lockdown has adversely impacted engagement in physical activity. There is a need to understand the factors linked to physical activity during COVID-19 as this will be fundamental to the development of innovative approaches to support engagement in physical activity during a pandemic. This study aimed to ascertain the psychological and mental health predictors of physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown. We also examined the value of harnessing commercial physical activity apps to facilitate physical activity during a pandemic.

METHOD

A nationwide online survey was completed by 408 Australian adults (Mage = 35.7 ± 13.9 years, 86.0% female) following the initial COVID-19 lockdown (April/May 2020). The survey incorporated measures that retrospectively assessed physical activity (and perceived changes in physical activity behaviour), psychological constructs (social support, self-efficacy, self-determined motivations), mental health, and engagement with commercial physical activity apps during the lockdown.

RESULTS

Over half of participants (53.4%) reported a reduction in physical activity during the initial COVID-19 lockdown, with markedly fewer (23.8%) reporting an increase in physical activity. App use (β = .09, p = .027), social support (β = .10, p = .021), self-efficacy (β = .42, p < .001), and identified regulation (β = .25, p < .001) emerged as important predictors of physical activity engagement (min/week). Self-efficacy (OR = 4.2, p < .001) was also associated with a greater likelihood of perceived positive changes (increases) in physical activity. The relationship between app use and physical activity was mediated by self-efficacy (β = 0.10 [0.06, 0.15]) and identified regulation (β = 0.09 [0.04, 0.15]); self-efficacy (β = 0.15, [0.09, 0.21]) also mediated the relationship between app use and positive changes in physical activity.

CONCLUSIONS

It is imperative that interventions targeted at increasing social support, self-efficacy, and autonomous motivations are developed and utilised to support engagement in physical activity during a pandemic. Commercial physical activity apps demonstrate the potential to mitigate reductions in physical activity during a pandemic, and thus the use of these apps should be encouraged.