The Impact of COVID-19 Social Isolation on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Brazilian Children and Adolescents

TL;DR

This study found that social isolation during the pandemic reduced physical activity and increased sedentary behavior in Brazilian children and adolescents.

Contribution

The study quantitatively assessed the impact of social isolation on physical activity and sedentary behavior using the C-PAQ.PT questionnaire.

Findings

Physical activity decreased significantly during social isolation, while sedentary behavior increased.

Youth aged 10-14 showed reduced basketball, handball, and running, while 5-9-year-olds played less in playgrounds.

Gender influenced specific activities, with girls playing less tag and boys cycling less.

Abstract

Objective
 To measure the impact of social isolation on physical activities and sedentary behavior in Brazilian children and adolescents. To assess whether factors such as age, gender, days of week, type of housing, and the population of the city also had an impact.

Methods
 The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee, and consent from parents was obtained. A Google Form (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA) was sent to parents by email and WhatsApp (Meta Platforms Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA). Parents answered the C-PAQ.PT questions for two different periods of time, one month before and during social isolation.

Results
 There was a statistically significant reduction in the mean physical activity (
p
 < 0.001) and an increase in the mean sedentary activities (
p
 < 0.001) on weekdays and weekends during social isolation. There was a greater reduction in basketball, handball, and running in the 10 to 14-year-old group, as well as playing in the playground in the 5-to-9-year-old group. There was a statistically significant decrease in the practice of tag and cycling, respectively, among females and males. We did not observe statistically significant differences between types of housing and the number of inhabitants in the city.

Conclusion
 The C-PAQ.PT allowed a quantitative assessment to identify the variations in physical activities and sedentary behaviors during social isolation. We have observed that only two physical activities were impacted by gender. The changes were not influenced by the number of inhabitants in the city or the type of housing.

Objetivo
 Este estudo mediu o impacto do isolamento social nas atividades físicas e no comportamento sedentário de crianças e adolescentes brasileiros e avaliou a influência de fatores como idade, sexo, dias da semana, tipo de moradia e população da cidade.

Métodos
 O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética Médica e o consentimento dos pais dos participantes foi obtido. Um
Google Form
(Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA) foi enviado aos pais por
e-mail
e WhatsApp (Meta Platforms Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA). Os pais responderam às perguntas do
Children's Physical Activity Questionnaire
em sua versão em português (C-PAQ.PT) duas vezes, um mês antes e durante o isolamento social.

Resultados
 Houve redução estatisticamente significativa na média de atividade física (
p
 < 0,001) e aumento na média de atividades sedentárias (
p
 < 0,001) nos dias úteis e finais de semana durante o isolamento social. Houve maior redução em basquete, handebol e corrida no grupo de 10 a 14 anos, assim como em brincar em parquinhos no grupo de 5 a 9 anos. Houve diminuição estatisticamente significativa na prática de pega-pega e ciclismo, respectivamente, entre meninas e meninos. Não observamos diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os tipos de moradia e o número de habitantes na cidade.

Conclusão
 O C-PAQ.PT permitiu uma avaliação quantitativa para identificação das variações nas atividades físicas e comportamentos sedentários durante o isolamento social. Observamos que apenas duas atividades físicas foram impactadas pelo sexo dos participantes. As mudanças não foram influenciadas pelo número de habitantes da cidade ou pelo tipo de moradia.

Figures