A Comparison of Physical Activity Level (PAL) of Undergraduate General Degree College Students Before and During the Lockdown Period

Abstract

Many studies reported about worldwide decline in Physical Activity (PA) yet there is a lack of evidence regarding Physical inactivity during Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). This is a major problem in India too. During the lockdown, different PAs of the students involving the external world had become almost nil leading to a sedentary lifestyle. The present study aimed to compare the Physical Activity Level (PAL) of undergraduate college students before and during the lockdown to observe whether there is any influence of lockdown on their PA. For this, the self-administered short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used. Data have been collected through Google Forms for the estimation of PAL of 94 undergraduate college students (45 males and 49 females) before and during COVID-19 as per IPAQ guidelines. The protocol was approved by the Institutional Human Ethical Committee. Several nations have tested the validity and reliability of the IPAQ short form. The study revealed a 14.84% decline in the High PAL category and a 15.96% increase in the Low PAL category during lockdown. A moderate decrease in the PAL value was also observed in all participants during lockdown. A significant decline in the PAL values of both male and female participants during the lockdown period has also been observed. Such a decline is most probably due to their inactive lifestyles and higher sedentary and related behaviour during lockdowns. Thus, isolation and quarantine during lockdown have increased the health risk and the chance of occurrence of cardiovascular and other lifestyle diseases in this age group. So, this public health issue should be given more attention and the cause-and-effect relationship of physical inactivity needs further investigation in detail.