Change in physical fitness due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in French adolescents: a comparison between two independent large samples from Diagnoform battery

Abstract

Numerous studies reported a significant decline in physical activity level in adolescents as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown. Physical fitness is recognized as a powerful marker of health in youth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on health-related physical fitness in French adolescents. Two cross-sectional studies were performed comparing two different groups of French adolescents, before (sample 1) and after the first lockdown (sample 2). A total of 1231 adolescents (aged to 16.5 ± 1.5 years) participated in the two cross-sectional studies. Complete data for physical fitness and anthropometrics data were obtained. Adolescents from sample 2 showed lower physical fitness levels compared to adolescents from sample 1. Regarding physical fitness for boys and girls, physical fitness levels were significantly lower in both sex between adolescents from the sample 1 and adolescents from the sample 2, except for cardiorespiratory fitness and flexibility for boys and girls, respectively. The physical fitness global score was also significantly lower between adolescents from the sample 1 and 2 for boys (−9.8%, p < 0.01) and girls (−16.2%; p < 0.01), respectively. Overall, the higher difference was found for performance in the speed body displacement test (−30%). A difference of 12.8% and 25% was observed for boys and girls, respectively. Conclusion : COVID-19 pandemic lockdown had a negative impact on physical fitness in French youth. This study highlights the need to develop, in a near future, prevention programmes in order to improve the physical fitness in youth. What is Known: • COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted lifestyle habits. A worrying decrease of physical activity, associated to a dramatic increase of time spent in sedentary behaviors was found in many coutries. What is New: • Our study bring first data on the health-related physical fitness consequences due to lockdown in French adolescents. Our study demonstrate the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on health-related physical fitness in French adolescents.

Physical fitness among children with diverse weight status during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-wide, cohort study based on the Slovenian physical fitness surveillance system (SLOfit)

“…To our knowledge, there are currently only a few studies that analysed physical fitness changes among children both during and after COVID-19 restrictions. 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 These studies agree that cardiorespiratory fitness, 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 32 , 33 , 35 lower body explosive power, 27 , 28 , 33 , 35 and speed decreased, 28 , 32 after COVID-19 containment restrictions, while more generally, a lower share of participants was meeting the recommended physical fitness levels. 29 , 33 , 35 Conflicting evidence was reported regarding other components of muscular fitness.…”

“…Numerous studies have analysed the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on physical fitness, although most focused on immediate effects. These studies included children and adolescents of different ages (7–18 years old) and covered various geographical regions across the globe, i.e., Austria, 27 China, 32 England, 26 France, 28 , 33 Germany, 34 , 45 Portugal, 30 Singapore, 31 South Korea, 35 and Spain, 29 indicating a global representation of research on the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on physical fitness. Sex distribution was also considered in some studies, 27 , 28 , 29 , 32 , 34 , 35 with findings suggesting potential sex-based differences in physical fitness outcomes.…”

“…These studies included children and adolescents of different ages (7–18 years old) and covered various geographical regions across the globe, i.e., Austria, 27 China, 32 England, 26 France, 28 , 33 Germany, 34 , 45 Portugal, 30 Singapore, 31 South Korea, 35 and Spain, 29 indicating a global representation of research on the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on physical fitness. Sex distribution was also considered in some studies, 27 , 28 , 29 , 32 , 34 , 35 with findings suggesting potential sex-based differences in physical fitness outcomes. Overall, previous studies indicated increased BMI among children after COVID-19 containment restrictions, 26 , 27 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 decreased cardiorespiratory fitness, 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 32 , 33 , 35 lower body explosive power as a component of muscular fitness, 27 , 28 , 33 , 35 lower speed, 28 , 32 and generally lower share of participants meeting recommended physical fitness levels.…”

COVID–19 lockdown effects on the anthropometrics, aerobic capacity, muscle function and metabolic control in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity

“…The present results in relation to muscle function in the literature are scarce and only refer to the standing broad jump, which showed mixed results. Basterfield et al 13 reported an increase in the standing broad jump performance (6.8 ± 13.1 cm), while Chambonnière et al 19 and Béghin et al 21 showed a decrease around 34.6 and 23.3 cm respectively. The present results reflected a downward trend in performance that did not reach statistical significance.…”

Metabolic control during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes: results from the German DPV initiative

“…Diabetes care teams should encourage patients to stay physically active and should counsel them regarding their eating behavior and their screen time habits. This may-however-not be sufficient to counteract the increase in sedentary behavior; more systematic programs fostering physical activity in children's and adolescents' daily life may be necessary [35][36][37][38]. In this study, we compared BMI during the pandemic with the year 2019, and therefore, longer-term pre-pandemic trends in weight gain cannot be excluded.…”