Centre for Exercise, Nutrition & Health Sciences, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8, ITZ, UK.
Bristol Medical School, Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8, 2PS, UK.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2022 May 16;19(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s12966-022-01290-4.
Restrictions due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic reduced physical activity provision for both children and their parents. Recent studies have reported decreases in physical activity levels during lockdown restrictions, but these were largely reliant on self-report methods, with data collected via unrepresentative self-report surveys. The post-pandemic impacts on children's activity levels remain unknown. A key question is how active children become once lockdown restrictions are lifted.
Active-6 is a repeated cross-sectional natural experiment. Accelerometer data from 1296 children aged 10-11 and their parents were collected in 50 schools in the Greater Bristol area, UK in March 2017-May 2018 (pre-COVID-19 comparator group), and compared to 393 children aged 10-11 and parents in 23 of the same schools, collected in May-December 2021. Mean minutes of accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were derived for weekdays and weekend and compared pre- and post-lockdown via linear multilevel models.
After adjusting for seasonality, accelerometer wear time and child/parent demographics, children's mean weekday and weekend MVPA were 7.7 min (95% CI: 3.5 to 11.9) and 6.9 min (95% CI: 0.9 to 12.9) lower in 2021 than in 2018, respectively, while sedentary time was higher by 25.4 min (95% CI: 15.8 to 35.0) and 14.0 min (95% CI: 1.5 to 26.5). There was no evidence that differences varied by child gender or household education. There was no significant difference in parents' MVPA or sedentary time, either on weekdays or weekends.
Children's MVPA was lower by 7-8 min/day in 2021 once restrictions were lifted than before the pandemic for all groups, on both weekdays and weekends. Previous research has shown that there is an undesirable age-related decline in children's physical activity. The 8-min difference reported here would be broadly comparable to the decline that would have previously been expected to occur over a three-year period. Parents' physical activity was similar to pre-pandemic levels. Our results suggest that despite easing of restrictions, children's activity levels have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. There is an urgent need to understand why these changes have occurred and how long they are maintained.
由于 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行，儿童及其父母的身体活动提供受到限制。最近的研究报告称，在封锁限制期间，身体活动水平下降，但这些研究主要依赖于自我报告方法，通过无代表性的自我报告调查收集数据。大流行后对儿童活动水平的影响尚不清楚。一个关键问题是，一旦解除封锁限制，儿童会变得多么活跃。
Active-6 是一项重复的横断面自然实验。在英国大布里斯托尔地区的 50 所学校，于 2017 年 3 月至 2018 年 5 月（COVID-19 大流行前对照组）期间，使用加速度计收集了 1296 名 10-11 岁儿童及其父母的数据，然后与 23 所相同学校的 393 名 10-11 岁儿童及其父母的数据进行了比较，收集时间为 2021 年 5 月至 12 月。通过线性多层模型，比较了工作日和周末的加速度计测量的中等到剧烈体力活动（MVPA）的分钟平均值，并在封锁前后进行了比较。
在调整了季节性、加速度计佩戴时间和儿童/父母人口统计学因素后，与 2018 年相比，2021 年儿童的平均工作日和周末 MVPA 分别低 7.7 分钟（95%CI：3.5 至 11.9）和 6.9 分钟（95%CI：0.9 至 12.9），而久坐时间分别高 25.4 分钟（95%CI：15.8 至 35.0）和 14.0 分钟（95%CI：1.5 至 26.5）。没有证据表明差异因儿童性别或家庭教育水平而异。父母在工作日或周末的 MVPA 或久坐时间均无显著差异。
一旦限制解除，与大流行前相比，2021 年所有组别的儿童在工作日和周末的 MVPA 分别每天减少 7-8 分钟。之前的研究表明，儿童的身体活动量会随着年龄的增长而不可避免地下降。这里报告的 8 分钟差异大致相当于之前预计在三年期间内会出现的下降。父母的身体活动与大流行前的水平相似。我们的研究结果表明，尽管限制有所放宽，但儿童的活动水平尚未恢复到大流行前的水平。迫切需要了解这些变化发生的原因以及它们持续的时间。
