Introduction In France March 14, 2020 a national lockdown was imposed in France for 55 days to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 and all schools were closed. This study aimed to investigate the effects of home confinement as a result of  lockdown on the activity (physical activity and sedentary behaviors), and their determinants, on French children (6-10 years) and adolescents (11-17 years). Methods The National Observatory for Physical Activity and Sedentary behaviors launched an online survey from April 1 st , to May 6 th , 2020 using popular social networks and websites. It compared the level of physical activity (PA), sitting and screen time before and during the lockdown and identified the impact of the initial PA (active vs. inactive), sedentary (high vs. low) profiles of the participants and the housing conditions. Results 6,491 children were included in this study. Initially active children and adolescents decreased their PA more than those initially inactive (p>0.001), while those who met the sitting time recommendations increased more their sitting time during lockdown (p<0.001). The same applies to screen time (p<0.001). Live in urban was associated with a decrease of PA (p<0.001), an increase of their sitting time (p<0.001) and children's screen time (p=0.002) during lockdown. Conclusion This study showed the deleterious effects of confinement caused by lockdown on physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Housing conditions were associated with lifestyle behaviors over this period of lockdown. Future public health policies should consider these results.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the COVID-19-related confinement and social restrictions affected the levels of physical fitness and academic achievement in primary school French children. A total of 206 primary school children (106 before confinements and 100 after restrictions) completed a test battery evaluating their anthropometric characteristics, body compositions, activity preferences, cognitive performances and physical fitness. The performance of the Standing Long Jump was better at T0 (169.9 ± 142.5 cm) compared to T1 (135.2 ± 31.4 cm) (p = 0.0367), and the Medicine Ball Throw performance declined from T0 to T1 (297.3 ± 81.1 cm vs. 249 ± 52 cm; p < 0.0001). Motor skills (26.9 ± 6.2 s vs. 30.9 ± 5.4 s; p < 0.0001), the shuttle-run test (stages completed), Maximal Aerobic Speed, and the estimated VO2max were lower at T1 compared to T0 (p < 0.0001). Executive functioning was found to be greater at T0 compared to T1 (p < 0.0001). Explicit liking or wanting for sedentary or physical activities did not change between T0 and T1. Both overall physical fitness and cognitive performance drastically declined among primary school French children with the COVID-19-related public health restrictions, which reinforces the need to urgently develop preventive strategies in anticipation of further mitigation measures.

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Background: Pediatricians’ clinical practice and health interventions in youths require instruments with adequate psychometric properties to assess physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviors (SB), and their subdomains. Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of the Children and Adolescents Physical Activity and Sedentary-Questionnaire (CAPAS-Q) in healthy French children and adolescents. Methods: The CAPAS-Q has been developed through a rigorous collective procedure and consists of a 31 items self-administered questionnaire evaluating children’s 7-day PA and SB dimensions and subdomains. Participants (n = 103, aged 8–18 years old) completed the questionnaire twice (7 days apart) and wore an ActiGraph GT3X + accelerometer for 7 days. Anthropometric measurements and body composition were assessed. Results: Cronbach alpha for PA and SB dimensions were 0.71 and 0.68, respectively. Reproducibility was found moderate to good, with Lin’s coefficients of 0.69 and 0.68 for PA and SB dimensions, respectively. Reproducibility was higher for adolescents compared to children. PA dimension was positively correlated with moderate PA, vigorous PA, moderate to vigorous PA, and total PA times and negatively correlated with SB time (p < 0.05). SB dimension and screen time were positively correlated with SB time and negatively correlated with LPA, MPA, MVPA, and total PA times (p < 0.05). Spearman correlation coefficients were fair to moderate, ranging between 0.23–0.45. Conclusion: The CAPAS-Q proposes a reliable and valid evaluation of French children and adolescents’ PA and SB, providing clinicians with potential intervention levels to improve youth movement behaviors.