A study in JAMA Pediatrics has measured the reduction in physical activities among children during the pandemic.¹ According to the study, there was a 20% decrease in the level of physical activities compared to the pre-pandemic levels.

The systematic review and meta-analysis of 22 studies involving 14,216 children, aged 10.5 years (median) was conducted to determine the changes in physical activity of children and adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic from the pre-pandemic levels. A total of 126 international studies from January 2020 to January 2022 were reviewed and 22 were included in the final analysis.

The duration of daily total physical activity was found to decline by 20% during the pandemic regardless of the pre-pandemic activity levels. The reduction was greater for higher-intensity physical activities (32%) and amounted to a per day 17-minute decrease in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. A 37% decline in the duration of physical activity was noted for children living at higher latitudes due to the cold weather adding on to the pandemic restriction. A 25% decrease was noted for studies with a longer duration between physical activity assessments.

This study has measured the decrease in physical activity during the Covid-19 pandemic initially due to the restrictions of the pandemic when all public places such as parks, swimming pools were closed and further augmented by closure of schools. These levels of physical activity may not come up to the pre-pandemic levels and “may be difficult to change” say the authors. The pandemic is in its tail-end and as the world seems to be slowly limping back to normal, public health initiatives and campaigns to recover the lost physical activity levels among children and adolescents are urgently needed for their optimum health and social development.

Reference

1. Neville RD, et al. Global changes in child and adolescent physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2022 Jul 11. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.2313