Analysis of Physical Activity Levels of Physical Education Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID -19) pandemic has brought unprecedented restrictions to people's physical activities and routines. The COVID-19 pandemic may have reduced physical activity levels and increased inactivity for various reasons (e.g., closure of gyms, family time constraints, and reduced outdoor mobility). The aim of this study is to examine physical education teachers' physical activity levels during the COVID-19 pandemic period. 417 physical education teachers participated in the research, which was reached by convenience sampling. Personal information form and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form were used for data collection in the study. Mann Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman's correlation tests were used in the analysis of the data. When the distribution of physical education teachers participating in the study according to their physical activity (PA) levels was examined, it was found that 26.1% had low PA levels, 37.6% had medium and 36.2% had high. While 27.5% of men were in the low category, 35.3% were in the medium category and 37.3% were in the high category, it was found to be 24.9%, 39.9% and 35.2% in women, respectively. When the PA levels of the teachers were analysed according to age, years of service and body mass index (BMI) variables, there was a significant difference, but no significant difference was found in terms of gender. While there was a negative and significant correlation between total PA and years of service and age, a positive and significant correlation was found between experience and BMI and age. As a result, it can be concluded that physical education teachers continue their active lives despite the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic period.