Impact of COVID-19 on Well-Being and Physical Activity in Ugandan Children With and Without HIV.

Abstract

The present study aims to understand the socioeconomic and physical activity impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children living with perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV) and without HIV (HIV-) in Kampala (Uganda). The authors included children aged 10-18years who filled out questionnaires at baseline (2017-2018, prepandemic) and 2years later (March 2020-January 2021, pandemic) in an observational cohort study at Joint Clinical Research Centre (Kampala). Physical activity energy expenditure was calculated using a youth compendium from the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research. Descriptive and standard test statistics including Kruskal-Wallis were used. One hundred and ninety-eight children from Kampala Uganda were included prepandemic (101 PHIV and 97 HIV-); 131 (71 PHIV and 60 HIV-) had information collected during the pandemic. At baseline, median and interquartile range age was 13years (11; 15), and 52% were females. During the pandemic, overall weekly physical activity increased by a median of 854minutes (interquartile range: 270-1890), and energy expenditures increased by 16% in both PHIV and in HIV- (P < .001 for groups overall prepandemic vs pandemic). The authors found in this Ugandan cohort of children that children engaged in more physical activity. Further research is warranted to understand the long-term effects of the pandemic on children's well-being.