Physical activity is crucial for children. Only about a third of children and adolescents are meeting recommended activity levels, a new study finds. Child physical activity levels dropped below guidelines during COVID-19 lockdowns and, according to the research, have not recovered.
Led by the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and published Monday in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, the research found that children spend 25 minutes longer being sedentary per day during the week than before the coronavirus crisis.
The findings showed children were less active on the weekend than during the week, taking part in 46 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on Saturday and Sunday. This was around eight minutes less than the activity of children who were measured using the same methods before the pandemic.
The findings were based on 393 children and their parents, from 23 schools in the Bristol area. Each wore an accelerometer to measure intensity of physical activity and filled out a questionnaire. The data was compared with data from 1,296 children and their parents from 50 schools in the same area pre-pandemic.
“The key strength of this study was we used data collected before and after the pandemic, using the same methods and in the same schools," according to the study’s lead author Dr. Ruth Salway, a statistician at the university’s School for Policy Studies.
“The data clearly demonstrates children’s physical activity had deteriorated once the restrictions were lifted," she said. "This emphasizes the importance of understanding how such habits change over time, so appropriate support and interventions can be introduced as normality resumes.”
There was no significant change in the activity level of parents who participated in the study.
A separate study in the UK showed that obesity among school-aged children increased by around 4.5 percentage points between 2019-20 and 2020-21, the highest annual rise since the National Child Measurement Program began.