Covid-19 Pandemic Decrease Physical Activity And May Affect Vo2Max Among School-age Children: Preliminary Results

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) guidelines for school-aged children are set to get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day and are aimed to promote health and fitness. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, less than 10% of Canadian children met this target. Moreover, their PA levels have decreased since COVID-19 period. Thus, a cognitively engaging classroom-based physical activity intervention (COGNi-ACTif) have been developed to increase their MVPA levels while still meeting the educational curriculum. Here we are presenting the aerobic capacity (VO2max) preliminary results from our main study while the COGNi-ACTif intervention is taking place during winter 2021. PURPOSE: To provide a baseline assessment of PA levels and VO2max among children engaged in COGNi-ACTif program during COVID-19. METHODS: Children and their parents or legal guardians were recruited from 3 Canadian elementary schools (grade 4th), located in underprivileged areas. Measures included levels of PA reported by parents (pre/during-COVID-19 periods) and estimation of VO2max using a 20 m progressive shuttle run test. PA levels were compared with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS: 59 children (32 girls & 27 boys aged 9.8 ± 0.5 years old) completed the baseline assessment. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 47.5 % of the children did not participate in any organized physical activity during the non-school hours and only 1.7% of the children evaluated met PA guidelines. During COVID-19, reported PA levels decreased significantly (pre: 83.9 vs during: 45.4 min/week, Z = -3.742, p < 0.001) and the inactive rate increased to 69.5% while children meeting rate of the guidelines remained stable at 1.7%. The mean VO2max obtained during this baseline evaluation is significantly lower when compared to Canadian values (P50) for the same age group (girls: 29.3 ± 4.0 vs 48.0, boys: 32.4 ± 5.4 vs 50.6 mlO2/kg/min, respectively). CONCLUSION: In the current situation, elementary school-age children don’t reach PA recommendations and the COVID-19 pandemic situation may have enhanced inactive behaviour. To increase the PA level, innovating interventions should be considered, limiting the detrimental effects of PA and enhancing children’s health and fitness.