Changes in Adherence to the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and Overweight and Obesity among Children in Northeastern Japan: A Longitudinal Study before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hyunshik Kim,Junghoon Kim,Daolin Xu,Sunkyoung Lee,Jiameng Ma

doi:10.3390/obesities1030015

Hyunshik Kim, Junghoon Kim + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/obesities1030015

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Abstract

There are few studies comparing adherence to Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines (24-h MG) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and exploring the pandemic’s effect on childhood obesity. This survey-based 2-year study investigated changes in obesity and adherence to the 24-h MG in children before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected at two points in time: pre-COVID-19 (May 2019; T1; n = 247) and during-COVID-19 (May 2021; T2; n = 171). Participants were healthy elementary school children aged between 6–12 years in northeastern Japan. The questionnaire comprised items on physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, adherence to the 24-h MG, and anthropometric and demographic characteristics. Among all participants, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) between the average body mass index at T1 (M = 16.06 kg/m2, SD = 2.08 kg/m2) and T2 (M = 18.01 kg/m2, SD = 3.21 kg/m2) was observed, where 17.8% were overweight and obese at T1 and 24% at T2, and 10.9% adhered to all 24 h MG at T1 and 4.1% at T2. To prevent obesity in children during the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental changes should be evaluated and appropriate preventive measures taken, including pro-community health programs that encourage parent-children outdoor activities.

Highlights

In late December 2019, the first reports on what would come to be known as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), began to emerge
On April 16, 2020, the Government of Japan declared a state of emergency in major cities countrywide [5], temporarily closing all elementary, middle, and high schools, actively encouraging social distancing, and restricting social gatherings in local communities and the use of sports facilities, playgrounds, and parks. These measures have reduced the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, they have concomitantly increased health-risk behaviors [6], including changes in levels of physical activity, sedentary behavior, dietary habits, sleep duration, and children’s mental health [7,8,9]
The present study was the first 2-year longitudinal study to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, and overweight

Summary

Introduction

On April 16, 2020, the Government of Japan declared a state of emergency in major cities countrywide [5], temporarily closing all elementary, middle, and high schools, actively encouraging social distancing, and restricting social gatherings in local communities and the use of sports facilities, playgrounds, and parks. These measures have reduced the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, they have concomitantly increased health-risk behaviors [6], including changes in levels of physical activity, sedentary behavior, dietary habits, sleep duration, and children’s mental health [7,8,9]. In 2016, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) suggested the Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines

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