The Effect of Containment Measures during the Covid-19 Pandemic to Sedentary Behavior of Thai Adults: Evidence from Thailand's Surveillance on Physical Activity 2019-2020.

Piyawat Katewongsa,Dyah Anantalia Widyastari,Danusorn Potharin,Rungrat Palakai,Niramon Rasri

doi:10.3390/ijerph18094467

Abstract

Measures to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) imposed by governments have undoubtedly impacted on preventing its spread but may have also produced longer periods of sedentary living across all segments of society. To examine this phenomenon, this study compared the sedentary behavior (SB) of Thai adults before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2019 and 2020 datasets of Thailand’s Surveillance on Physical Activity (SPA) were employed. A total of 5379 (SPA2019) and 6531 (SPA202020) persons age 18–64 years who had access to the Internet were included in the analysis. Measures imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19 infection were significantly associated with lower opportunity of Thai adults for work-related physical movement, and that increased their SB, particularly with the shift from onsite to online working platforms. Cumulative SB increased from 824 (before the pandemic) to 875 min/day during the pandemic. The odds of accumulating >13 h/day of SB was highest among females, young adults, those who completed post-secondary education, unemployed or working in the non-agriculture sector, having a chronic disease/condition, residing in an urban area, and living in a ‘higher-risk’ pandemic zone. The insignificant association of physical activity (PA) and the Fit from Home (FFH) intervention in reducing SB during the pandemic suggests that PA is not directly associated with SB, and that the FFH intervention was insufficient to prevent SB.

Highlights

This study examined the determinants of sedentary behavior (SB) during the Covid-19 pandemic among Thai adults
While most of SPA2019 participants were employed in the formal sector and private enterprise, about a third of SPA2020 participants worked in the informal sector
This study found that the proportion of Thais with >13 h/day of SB increased during the pandemic period, accompanied by an increase in total sedentary time

Summary

Introduction

The importance of sedentary behavior (SB) research is as important as studies of physical activity (PA) considering the potentially adverse effects of SB on health [1]. Studies have documented SB as one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) [2,3,4,5,6]. SB was strongly associated with poor mental health [7]. Individuals who were exposed to greater durations of screen time were more likely to report the highest level of depression symptoms and had a higher likelihood of adverse mental health outcomes [7,8,9,10,11]. Spending more time being sedentary has been associated with a higher degree of anxiety [10,12,13]

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