Campbell Julie E, Stone Michelle R, Mitra Raktim, Locke Maggie, MacDonald Cynthia, Preston Ashley, Feicht Rebecca A, Rehman Laurene, Kirk Sara F L, Faulkner Guy, Tremblay Mark S, Moore Sarah A
Faculty of Health, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, PO Box 15000, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, PO Box 150000, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
J Act Sedentary Sleep Behav. 2023 Nov 3;2(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s44167-023-00032-6.
Like many places globally, the health and well-being of children and youth living in Canada were significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Restricted access to the outdoors, schools, and public green spaces impacted children's physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour, and sleep. Restrictions changed throughout the pandemic, and children's and youth's movement behaviours may have been differentially affected based on time and place. This paper aimed to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the movement behaviours of children and youth living in Nova Scotia (NS), Canada, over time and by geographic region using mixed methods.
This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Secondary data from three repeated cross-sectional surveys of parent-reported demographic, movement, and geographic data of 291 children and youth aged 5-17 years were analyzed. Spatial cluster analyses were applied to identify geographic concentrations of children and youth who were more or less likely to meet the moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) guideline during the pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 Nova Scotian parents to understand their perspectives on their child's movement behaviours during the pandemic. Interviews were analyzed deductively based on quantitative results using reflexive thematic analysis.
Our findings showed only 5.5% of children and youth were meeting all guidelines throughout the pandemic. Of the movement behaviours, screen time (ST) differed across the pandemic and by age and gender. Clusters of children and youth meeting the MVPA recommendation on fewer days were found in regions within NS's three largest population centres (Truro, Sydney, and the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM)), and clusters of those meeting the MVPA recommendation on more days were also identified in the HRM. From semi-structured interviews, themes indicated: (1) escaping screens during early parts of the COVID-19 pandemic and when weather was colder was hard; (2) having access to spaces to be active near the home helped facilitate children's movement; and (3) higher socioeconomic status enabled more opportunities for movement.
Overall, fewer public health restrictions led to more favourable movement behaviours and spatial and sociodemographic factors may have been at play. Decision-makers should consider these factors when identifying strategies to keep children active during future health crises.
与全球许多地方一样，加拿大儿童和青少年的健康与福祉受到新冠疫情的重大影响。户外活动、学校及公共绿地的受限影响了儿童的身体活动（PA）、久坐行为和睡眠。疫情期间限制措施不断变化，儿童和青少年的运动行为可能因时间和地点而受到不同程度的影响。本文旨在采用混合方法，研究新冠疫情对加拿大新斯科舍省（NS）儿童和青少年运动行为随时间推移及按地理区域的影响。
本研究采用解释性序列混合方法设计。分析了来自三项重复横断面调查的二手数据，这些调查涉及291名5至17岁儿童和青少年的家长报告的人口统计学、运动及地理数据。应用空间聚类分析来确定在疫情期间更有可能或不太可能达到中度至剧烈身体活动（MVPA）指南的儿童和青少年的地理聚集情况。对14位新斯科舍省的家长进行了半结构化访谈，以了解他们对孩子在疫情期间运动行为的看法。基于定量结果，采用反思性主题分析对访谈进行演绎分析。
我们的研究结果显示，在整个疫情期间，只有5.5%的儿童和青少年符合所有指南。在运动行为方面，屏幕时间（ST）在疫情期间以及不同年龄和性别之间存在差异。在新斯科舍省三个最大人口中心（特鲁罗、悉尼和哈利法克斯地区自治市（HRM））的区域内，发现了在较少天数达到MVPA建议的儿童和青少年聚集区，同时在哈利法克斯地区自治市也确定了在较多天数达到MVPA建议的人群聚集区。从半结构化访谈中得出的主题表明：（1）在新冠疫情初期以及天气较冷时，避免使用屏幕很困难；（2）在家附近有进行活动的空间有助于促进儿童的运动；（3）较高的社会经济地位带来了更多的运动机会。
总体而言，较少的公共卫生限制导致了更有利的运动行为，空间和社会人口学因素可能起到了作用。决策者在确定未来健康危机期间让儿童保持活跃的策略时应考虑这些因素。
