Junmin Zhou1, Xiaofen Xie1, Bing Guo1, Rong Pei2, Xiaofang Pei1, Shujuan Yang1,3, Peng Jia3,4. 1. West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. 2. School of Health Caring Industry, Sichuan University of Arts and Science, Dazhou, China. 3. International Institute of Spatial Lifecourse Epidemiology (ISLE), Hong Kong, China. 4. Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Abstract
Background: The study sought to assess the changes in physical activity (PA) and sedentary time among Chinese youths at different stages after the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: It was based on a retrospective online survey conducted in May 2020. More than 10,000 youths voluntarily recalled their PA-related information at three stages: before COVID-19 (January), during lockdown (February), and after lockdown (May). χ2 tests were conducted to evaluate the significance of the differences in participants' characteristics between sexes, and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests were performed to examine the significance of differences in changes in PA and sedentary behavior levels between sexes. Results: A total of 8,115 participants were included, with a mean age of 20. The percentage of no PA per week increased significantly and then slightly fell, and that of ≥150 min/week substantially decreased and then rebounded partially (all p < 0.001) (for instance, the percentage of ≥150 min/week of PA total decreased from 38.6 to 19.4%, then rebounded back to 25.3%). Means hours per day spent in sedentary behaviors had significantly increased during lockdown comparing to pre-COVID-19 (all p < 0.001). There were more participants reported reduced PA level than those indicated increased, and more participating youths had their sedentary behavior level increased than those who had it decreased. Conclusions: The study found COVID-19 had both immediate and longer-term impacts on self-reported physical activities and sedentary behaviors among Chinese youths. Relevant efforts should be strengthened to get youths physically moving again.
Background: The study sought to assess the changes in physical activity (PA) and sedentary time among Chinese youths at different stages after the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: It was based on a retrospective online survey conducted in May 2020. More than 10,000 youths voluntarily recalled their PA-related information at three stages: before COVID-19 (January), during lockdown (February), and after lockdown (May). χ2 tests were conducted to evaluate the significance of the differences in participants' characteristics between sexes, and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests were performed to examine the significance of differences in changes in PA and sedentary behavior levels between sexes. Results: A total of 8,115 participants were included, with a mean age of 20. The percentage of no PA per week increased significantly and then slightly fell, and that of ≥150 min/week substantially decreased and then rebounded partially (all p < 0.001) (for instance, the percentage of ≥150 min/week of PA total decreased from 38.6 to 19.4%, then rebounded back to 25.3%). Means hours per day spent in sedentary behaviors had significantly increased during lockdown comparing to pre-COVID-19 (all p < 0.001). There were more participants reported reduced PA level than those indicated increased, and more participating youths had their sedentary behavior level increased than those who had it decreased. Conclusions: The study found COVID-19 had both immediate and longer-term impacts on self-reported physical activities and sedentary behaviors among Chinese youths. Relevant efforts should be strengthened to get youths physically moving again.
Authors: Xiaodong Zheng; Yinglin Wang; Yue Zhang; Tinghe Deng; Yuanzheng Yang Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-06-22 Impact factor: 4.614