Performance and Health Group, Faculty of Sports Sciences and Physical Education, Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of A Coruna, 15179 A Coruña, Spain.
General Sport Secretariat, Galician Government, 15707 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 26;19(7):3963. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073963.
COVID-19 pandemic restrictions might have negatively affected the health-related physical fitness of children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to contrast the body composition and physical fitness data of two independent samples of children and adolescents obtained from an online database (DAFIS project) before (n = 15,287) and during (n = 2101) the first academic year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed higher values for the body mass index (p = 0.002), waist circumference (p < 0.001), and waist to hip and waist to height ratios (p < 0.001) during than before the pandemic, particularly in the case of boys. On the other hand, lower muscular fitness was observed for girls during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative analysis did not detect relevant changes in cardiorespiratory fitness in children or adolescents (p > 0.05). Our data suggested that pandemic constraints might have affected body composition and muscular fitness of children and adolescents. These results might be of interest for designing specific interventions oriented toward counteracting the negative effects of pandemic restrictions on health-related physical fitness.
COVID-19 大流行限制可能对儿童和青少年的与健康相关的身体素质产生负面影响。本研究的目的是对比从在线数据库（DAFIS 项目）获得的 COVID-19 大流行第一年前后（n = 15287）两个独立的儿童和青少年样本的身体成分和身体素质数据。结果显示，与大流行前相比，大流行期间的体重指数（p = 0.002）、腰围（p < 0.001）和腰臀比和腰高比（p < 0.001）更高，尤其是男孩。另一方面，大流行期间女孩的肌肉力量较低。定量和定性分析并未发现儿童或青少年的心肺功能（p > 0.05）有相关变化。我们的数据表明，大流行限制可能影响了儿童和青少年的身体成分和肌肉力量。这些结果可能有助于设计针对大流行限制对与健康相关的身体素质的负面影响的具体干预措施。
