Barriers and facilitators to changes in adolescent physical activity during COVID-19

Abstract

ObjectivesCOVID-19 restrictions reduced adolescents’ opportunities for physical activity (PA). The purpose of this study was to examine how adolescent PA changed during school closures, to identify the key barriers and facilitators for these changes during lockdown and to use this information to understand how to manage future crises’ situations positively to prevent physical inactivity.MethodsIrish adolescents (N=1214; ages 12–18 years) participated in an online cross-sectional study during April 2020, including items on PA level, changes in PA and reasons for change in an open-ended format. Numeric analyses were through multiple binary logistic regressions, stratified by changes in PA during lockdown and inductive analysis of open coding of text responses.ResultsAdolescents reported they did less PA (50%), no change (30%) or did more PA during lockdown (20%). Adolescents who did less PA were more likely to be overweight (OR=1.8, CI=1.2–2.7) or obese (OR=2.2, CI=1.2–4.0) and less likely to have strong prior PA habits (OR=0.4, CI=0.2–0.6). The most cited barriers to PA were coronavirus, club training cancelled and time. Strong associations for doing more PA included participation in strengthening exercises at least three times in the past 7 days (OR=1.7, CI=1.3–2.4); facilitators were more time, coronavirus and no school.ConclusionCOVID-19 restrictions were both a barrier to and an opportunity for PA. Parents, schools, public health, communities and industries must collaborate to prevent physical inactivity at times of crisis, especially for vulnerable groups.

Comparison of Physical Activity Levels in Youths before and during a Pandemic Lockdown

“…In 38.6% of students, an increase in PA was observed from 3.0 to 4.5 days a week, whereas 11% of students remained at the same level of PA (3 days/week). These results are similar to the findings among the Irish population of adolescents [ 58 ], in which less PA was related to people with overweight or who were obese. Xiang [ 57 ] also observed a significant reduction in PA and an increase in TV watch time during the COVID-19 pandemic while studying PA levels of 2426 children and adolescents in March 2020 in China.…”

Lifestyle Changes and Determinants of Children’s and Adolescents’ Body Weight Increase during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Greece: The COV-EAT Study

“…In line with the findings of the current study, Pietrobelli et al showed that during the lockdown, children and adolescents with obesity in Italy significantly increased their consumption of certain foods (chips, red meat, and sugary drinks), their sleep duration, and the time they devoted to screen activities, while they decreased the time they spent in sports [ 3 ]. Similarly, Ng et al in a sample of 1214 Irish adolescents, showed that half of the participants tended to decrease their physical activity during the lockdown, especially those with overweight or obesity [ 23 ]. Furthermore, Jia et al conducted a survey among 10,082 participants from high schools, colleges, and graduate schools (aged 19.8 ± 2.3 years) and showed that individuals’ BMI, screen time, and sedentary and sleeping time on weekdays and weekends increased, while the frequency of engaging in active transport, moderate/vigorous-intensity housework, leisure-time moderate/vigorous-intensity physical activity, and leisure-time walking were decreased [ 24 ].…”

“…The decrease of physical activity may be attributed to home confinement, which does not allow individuals to attend sport clubs and organized physical activity or visit schoolyards, parks, and recreational areas. Ng et al reported that Irish adolescents with overweight were more likely to be less physically active during the COVID-19 lockdown [ 23 ]. In contrast, the increase of screen time may be due to the longer duration of distance learning replacing both school lessons and private lessons, in addition to more free time at home and to boredom.…”

Czech adolescents’ remote school and health experiences during the spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown

“…Similarly, boys who did not participate in 60 min of daily MVPA during lockdown were more likely to report they did less MVPA than boys who did MVPA daily or girls. The pattern of doing more PA and meeting a cut-off of daily 60 min of MVPA is reported widely ( Moore et al, 2020 , Ng et al, 2020 , Chambonniere et al, 2021 , Tulchin-Francis et al, 2021 ), and despite organized sport venues being restricted, it is likely that creative ways (at various intra-, interpersonal, environmental and policy levels) to sustain PA or even encourage higher PA levels have taken place in Czechia during the spring 2020 lockdown. The types of activities taken up during lockdown need investigating with opportunities to sustain them to reduce physical inactivity.…”