Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 5;18(5):2583. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052583.
Physical activity is essential for children's healthy development, yet COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions such as school closures and staying at home, playground closures, and the cancelling of organised community sport have dramatically altered children's opportunities to be physically active. This study describes changes in levels of physical activity and screen time from February 2020 (i.e., before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in Western Australia) to May 2020 (i.e., when COVID-19 restrictions were in place). Parents of children aged 5 to 9 years from Western Australia were eligible to participate and recruited through convenience sampling. An online survey instrument that included validated measures of their children's physical activity (unstructured, organized, home-based, indoor/outdoor active play, dog play/walking), sociodemographic, and other potential confounders was administered to parents. Paired -tests and mixed ANOVA models assessed changes in physical activity outcomes. The analytic sample comprised parents of 157 children who were 6.9 years of age (SD = 1.7) on average. Overall, weekly minutes of total physical activity (PA) did not change from before to during COVID-19. However, frequency and duration (total and home-based) of unstructured physical activity significantly increased. Outdoor play in the yard or street around the house, outdoor play in the park or playground or outdoor recreation area, and active indoor play at home all significantly increased. Frequency and total duration of organised physical activity significantly declined during COVID-19 distancing. During Western Australian COVID-19 restrictions, there was an increase in young children's unstructured physical activity and outdoor play and a decrease in organised physical activity. It remains to be seen whether children's increased physical activity has been sustained with the easing of physical distancing restrictions.
身体活动对儿童的健康发育至关重要，然而，由于 COVID-19 疫情的限制，如学校关闭和居家、游乐场关闭以及取消有组织的社区体育活动等，儿童进行身体活动的机会大大减少。本研究描述了从 2020 年 2 月（即西澳大利亚州引入 COVID-19 限制之前）到 2020 年 5 月（即 COVID-19 限制实施期间）期间，儿童身体活动水平和屏幕时间的变化。西澳大利亚州 5 至 9 岁儿童的家长有资格参与，并通过方便抽样招募。向家长发放了一份在线调查工具，其中包括他们孩子身体活动（非结构化、结构化、家庭内、室内/室外积极游戏、与狗玩耍/散步）、社会人口统计学和其他潜在混杂因素的经过验证的测量方法。配对检验和混合方差分析模型评估了身体活动结果的变化。分析样本包括 157 名儿童的家长，他们的孩子平均年龄为 6.9 岁（SD=1.7）。总体而言，从 COVID-19 之前到期间，每周总身体活动（PA）分钟数没有变化。然而，非结构化身体活动的频率和持续时间（总时间和家庭内）显著增加。在院子或房子周围的户外玩耍、在公园或游乐场或户外娱乐区的户外玩耍以及在家中的积极室内玩耍都显著增加。COVID-19 期间，组织性身体活动的频率和总持续时间显著下降。在西澳大利亚 COVID-19 限制期间，儿童的非结构化身体活动和户外活动增加，而组织性身体活动减少。随着身体距离限制的放宽，儿童的身体活动是否持续增加仍有待观察。
