Assessment of educators’ physical activity in conditions of social isolation

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the educators’ physical activity in the conditions of social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic with the use of data on daily energy costs in the dynamics of 16 years. Material &methods. To solve the problems, the data of 925 teachers of preschool and general secondary education institutions were analyzed (436 people – in 2005, 404 people – in 2018, 85 people – in 2021). Age composition of the participants of the scientific observation: I age group (I AG) up to 31 years old – 165 people (17.84 %), II age group (II AG) 31-40 years old – 271 people (29.30 %), III age group (III AG) 41-50 years old – 253 people (27.35 %), IV age group (IV AG) older than 50 years – 236 people (25.51 %). Among the teachers, 690 people (74.59 %) were residents of the regional center, 207 (22.38 %) were residents of district centers, and 28 (3.03 %) were residents of rural areas. The following methods were used during the study: questionnaire; natural experiment; statistical processing of the received data. Results. The study revealed a tendency towards a decrease in the average values of teachers’ energy expenditure of daily physical activity from 2005 (2818.78±38.32 kcal) to 2021 (2804.03±20.77 (F2005-2021 =14.049; p=0.000)) and a natural decrease in the average value of the indicator of energy expenditure of daily physical activity during the distance learning (2412.34±21.08 kcal) by 13.96 % compared with the similar indicator during the traditional form of learning in 2021 (2804.03±20.77 kcal), (t offline - online =34.913; p=0.000). Conclusions. In the dynamics of the studied period, there is a decrease in the average values of teachers’ energy expenditure of daily physical activity from 2005 (2818.78±38.32 kcal) to 2021 (2804.03±20.77 (F2005-2021 =14.049; p=0.000)). The average value of the indicator of daily energy expenditure for physical activity during the distance learning (2412.34±21.08 kcal) is 13.96 % lower, compared with the similar indicator of teachers’ work using the traditional form of learning in 2021 (2804.03±20.77 kcal), (t offline - online =34,913; p=0,000).