Jago Russell, House Danielle, Salway Ruth, Walker Robert, Emm-Collison Lydia, Sansum Kate, Breheny Katie, Churchward Sarah, Williams Joanna G, Hollingworth William, de Vocht Frank
Centre for Exercise, Nutrition & Health Sciences, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Public Health Res (Southampt). 2024 Nov;12(16):1-29. doi: 10.3310/WYHT5821.
Physical activity is essential for long-term health, yet data from before the COVID-19 pandemic showed only 41% of 10- to 11-year-olds met the UK government's physical activity recommendations. Children's physical activity was limited during the national COVID-19 lockdowns. It is important to measure children's physical activity in the recovery period to assess the short- and medium-term impact of the lockdowns.
To use mixed-methods to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of year 6 children in the short-term (2021) and medium-term (2022) recovery periods by comparing these with data sampled from the same schools in 2017/18.
Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in two waves: wave 1 (May-December 2021), when lockdowns had finished but some COVID-19 mitigation policies were still in place, and wave 2 (January-July 2022), when most restrictions had been removed. These were compared with baseline data from similar year 6 children and parents/carers in the same schools collected between March 2017 and June 2018 (wave 0).
In wave 1, average child accelerometer-measured weekday moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was 7-8 minutes lower than pre-pandemic while sedentary time was higher by almost 30 minutes. Child moderate-to-vigorous physical activity had recovered to pre-pandemic levels in wave 2, although sedentary time remained elevated. Across our studies, we found a new normal for child physical activity, characterised as more dependent on structured activities such as active clubs. Physical activity inequalities appear to be widening among girls and low socioeconomic position families, as they face unique barriers to participating in the new normal.
Our sample includes more households with higher educational qualifications and predominantly female parents. Undertaking this research in schools while COVID-19 disruptions were ongoing created challenges to data collection which may have limited schools' and families' participation.
COVID-19 lockdowns negatively impacted child physical activity. It took almost a year of no restrictions for this to recover, and sedentary time remains high. Despite this recovery, 59% of children do not meet activity guidelines. There is a new normal to child physical activity that relies on structured activities, and some children and families may face challenges to taking part in the new normal. Strategies are needed to increase child physical activity for all.
Develop new ways to work in partnership with schools to design bespoke physical activity programmes that can be delivered at the school site. Develop new ways to help girls and children from lower-income households to be physically active. Find the most effective means of maximising existing school resources such as extended school provision (after-school clubs) and physical resources (equipment) to promote physical activity outside of curriculum time.
This synopsis presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research as award number NIHR131847.
体育活动对长期健康至关重要，但新冠疫情大流行之前的数据显示，10至11岁的儿童中只有41%达到了英国政府的体育活动建议标准。在全国新冠疫情封锁期间，儿童的体育活动受到限制。在恢复期测量儿童的体育活动，对于评估封锁措施的短期和中期影响很重要。
采用混合方法，通过将2021年短期和2022年中期恢复期六年级儿童的中度至剧烈体育活动与2017/18年从同一学校抽取的数据进行比较，评估新冠疫情大流行对其的影响。
分两波收集定量和定性数据：第一波（2021年5月至12月），此时封锁已经结束，但一些新冠疫情缓解政策仍然有效；第二波（2022年1月至7月），此时大多数限制已经解除。将这些数据与2017年3月至2018年6月（第0波）在同一学校收集的类似六年级儿童及其家长/照顾者的基线数据进行比较。
在第一波中，通过加速度计测量，儿童在工作日的中度至剧烈体育活动平均比疫情前减少了7 - 8分钟，而久坐时间则增加了近30分钟。在第二波中，儿童的中度至剧烈体育活动已恢复到疫情前的水平，尽管久坐时间仍然较高。在我们的各项研究中，我们发现了儿童体育活动的一种新常态，其特点是更多地依赖于结构化活动，如活跃俱乐部。体育活动不平等现象在女孩和社会经济地位较低的家庭中似乎正在加剧，因为他们在参与新常态活动方面面临独特的障碍。
我们的样本包括更多具有较高教育水平的家庭，且主要是母亲为家长。在新冠疫情干扰仍在持续的情况下在学校开展这项研究，给数据收集带来了挑战，这可能限制了学校和家庭的参与。
新冠疫情封锁对儿童体育活动产生了负面影响。几乎经过一年没有限制的时间，体育活动才得以恢复，且久坐时间仍然很高。尽管有所恢复，但仍有59%的儿童未达到活动指南标准。儿童体育活动出现了依赖结构化活动的新常态，一些儿童和家庭在参与新常态活动方面可能面临挑战。需要制定策略来增加所有儿童的体育活动。
开发与学校合作的新方式，以设计可在学校场地开展的定制体育活动计划。开发新方法，帮助女孩和低收入家庭的儿童进行体育活动。找到最有效的方法，最大限度地利用现有的学校资源，如延长学校服务（课后俱乐部）和体育资源（设备），以促进课程时间之外的体育活动。
本综述展示了由英国国家健康与照护研究中心（NIHR）公共卫生研究资助的独立研究，资助编号为NIHR131847。
