Covid-19 versus Physical Activity in the Context of University Students

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of the paper is to present the results of a recent research survey (February 2021) in a broader context of the issue to determine whether university students devote themselves as much as possible to specific sports and physical activities even at the time of the ongoing pandemic associated with the spread of COVID-19, i.e. at a time when the possibilities of sports and physical activities are limited, and the contact Physical Education lessons (hereinafter referred to as PE) are cancelled at schools.METHODS: To meet the objectives of the research survey, the method of questioning – an online questionnaire – was chosen. The total number of the university students who were addressed was 1164, 530 first-year students from all seven faculties of VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (hereinafter referred to as VSB-TUO) answered. The questionnaires were subjected to the statistical classification of the first-level data. Another method was the comparative method of working with documents, comparing with the results of comparable questionnaire surveys from 2015 and 2018, and relevant scientific discussion in this contestRESULTS: The results of the research confirmed that first-year students of all VSB-TUO faculties, who as graduates of the relevant secondary school could no longer complete the subject Physical Education due to pandemic measures, preferred unorganized physical activities in accordance with the situation, such as walks, including walking the dog. 34.8% of respondents answered that they “did not miss sport” or that they “were not interested in sport at all”. A high percentage of respondents (44.3%) admitted that they “did not miss” organized Physical Education lessons “at all”, while some (31.3%) stated that thanks to the subject Physical Education, they were able to play sports “at least once a week”.CONCLUSION: Due to the high number of interviewed first-year students of VSB-TUO, it can be assumed that we would reach similar results in a vast population of peers, and the findings can be generalized. The study summarizes the latest reflections on impersonal forms of teaching of Physical Education on the motivation and intensity of sports and physical activities within the general level of foreign surveys as well. Relevant research in our cultural setting coincidently conclude indispensable importance of growing role of regular physical activity in the field of school, family and leisure including its attractive innovation during lock down pandemic situation.