Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Elementary School Children

Abstract

School is an important place for children and youth as they spend a considerable amount of their time staying active. Due to social distancing norms, schools were closed indefinitely. The present study thus intends to find out whether parent-reported changes were appreciated in children’s physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) during the lockdown from pre-lockdown periods. 310 participants were recruited for this purpose. This online subjective questionnaire assessed the time spent in 6 common types of PA and 10 common types of SB for children. The link to the survey was circulated in the study population via various online social media platforms which was then submitted using Google forms. It was found that around 55% of the students were engaged in the most common types of PA like free play /unstructured activities for 1-5 days during lockdown, however, only 50% were active for all 7 days in the week before the lockdown despite no restrictions. School-based P.E also saw a major decline during the lockdown (only 12% of students had P.E for 2 days/week) in contrast to pre lockdown period (60%). Children increased their screen time for school related coursework (doing homework, attending online classes) and for leisure (watching TV, surfing the internet, playing video games). There could be immediate variations in PA and SB in response to COVID-19, predisposing children and youth to increased risk of gaining non-communicable diseases as well as musculoskeletal injuries in the long run. Thus, educational institutes, teachers, parents and elders must indulge children into staying active throughout the day and across the entire school year for the next few months of the pandemic. Keywords: Physical activity, sedentary behavior, elementary school children, lockdown, COVID-19.