Abstract
The new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting response measures have led to severe limitations of people’s exercise possibilities with diminished physical activity (PA) and increased sedentary behavior (SB). Since for migrant groups in Germany, no data is available, this study aimed to investigate factors associated with changes in PA and SB in a sample of Turkish descent. Participants of a prospective cohort study (adults of Turkish descent, living in Berlin, Germany) completed a questionnaire regarding COVID-19 related topics including PA and SB since February 2020. Changes in PA and SB were described, and sociodemographic, migrant-related, and health-related predictors of PA decrease and SB increase were determined using multivariable regression analyses. Of 106 participants, 69% reported a decline of PA, 36% reported an increase in SB. PA decrease and SB increase seemed to be associated with inactivity before the pandemic as well as with the female sex. SB increase appeared to be additionally associated with educational level and BMI. The COVID-19 pandemic and the response measures had persistent detrimental effects on this migrant population. Since sufficient PA before the pandemic had the strongest association with maintaining PA and SB during the crisis, the German government and public health professionals should prioritize PA promotion in this vulnerable group.
Highlights
In November 2019, the first cases of the new coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 emerged in China.From there, the virus and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread all over the world.In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic [1]
The aim of our study was to describe physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) changes during the COVID19 pandemic in a sample of adults of Turkish descent living in Berlin, Germany, and to investigate sociodemographic, health-related, and migration-related factors associated with those changes
Out of 377 persons who were contacted between July and December 2020 for the 2nd follow-up of our cohort study, 106 completed the questionnaire (44 after the first invitation, 57 after the first reminder, and 5 after the second reminder)
Summary
In November 2019, the first cases of the new coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 emerged in China.From there, the virus and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread all over the world.In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic [1]. In November 2019, the first cases of the new coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 emerged in China. The virus and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread all over the world. In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic [1]. As of July 2021, more than 180 million cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed by WHO including more than 3.9 million deaths [2]. Many countries have imposed response measures, mostly called ‘lockdowns’, to contain the spread of the virus including social distancing, home confinement, or closure of public spaces [3]. In Germany, the first case of COVID-19 was detected on 27 January
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