Levels and Changes of Physical Activity in Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Contextualizing Urban vs. Rural Living Environment

Natasa Zenic,Mateo Blazevic,Redha Taiar,Dora Maric,Damir Sekulic,Haris Pojskic,Barbara Gilic

doi:10.3390/app10113997

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing implemented shortly after influence physical activity levels (PALs). The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the changes in PAL and factors associated with PALs among Croatian adolescents while considering the impact of community (urban vs. rural living environment). The sample included 823 adolescents (mean age: 16.5 ± 2.1 years) who were tested on baseline (from October 2019 to March 2020; before COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia) and follow-up (in April 2020; during the COVID-19 pandemic and imposed rules of social distancing). Baseline testing included anthropometrics, physical fitness status, and evaluation of PALs, while follow-up included only PALs (evaluated by a standardized questionnaire through an internet application). The results showed a significant influence of the living environment on the decrease of PAL, with a larger decrease in urban adolescents. Logistic regression showed a higher likelihood for normal PALs at baseline in adolescents who had better fitness status, with no strong confounding effect of the urban/rural environment. The fitness status of urban adolescents predicted their PALs at follow-up. The differences between urban and rural adolescents with regard to the established changes in PALs and relationships between the predictors and PALs are explained by the characteristics of the living communities (lack of organized sports in rural areas), and the level of social distancing in the studied period and region/country.

Highlights

Physical activity is described as the total amount of time spent engaged in daily life activities, work and school activities, recreational and sports activities, and other activities that increase the energy expenditure of the body [1]
Post hoc analyses revealed a decrease in physical activity levels (PALs) for the total sample and urban adolescents
The results showed a significant influence of the living environment on the decrease of PAL, with larger negative effects in urban adolescents

Summary

Introduction

Physical activity is described as the total amount of time spent engaged in daily life activities, work and school activities, recreational and sports activities, and other activities that increase the energy expenditure of the body [1]. Tracking the physical activity levels (PALs) is important research. Sci. 2020, 10, 3997 interest in public health, as having sufficient PALs is associated with higher health-related quality of life [2,3,4,5]. Despite the conclusive evidence of the importance of physical activity at all ages, the problem is important in youth, since the PALs in youth over the past few decades have significantly declined [6]. It is approximated that PALs in adolescents decline with age by a mean of –7% a year [8,9]. There is a global consensus of the importance of tracking the changes in the trends of PALs and related influential factors [10]

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Results

Conclusion