The impact of COVID-19 on social life has been drastic and global. However, the different numbers of cases and different actions in different countries have been leading to various interesting yet unexplored effects on human behavior. In the present study, we compare the physical activity and recreational screen time of a representative sample of 1711 4- to 17-year-olds before and during the strictest time of the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany. We found that sports activity declined whereas recreational screen time increased. However, a substantial increase in habitual physical activities leads to an overall increase in physical activity among children and adolescents in Germany. The effects differ in size but not in their direction between age groups and are stable for boys and girls. We conclude from this natural experiment that physical activity among children and adolescents is highly context-driven and mutual and does not act as a functional opposite to recreational screen time.

With the outbreak of the Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19) in late 2019, governments increasingly imposed containment strategies, including social distancing as well as restricted population movement, potentially having negative impacts on mental and physical health. A growing number of studies have examined the impact of the pandemic on different facets of physical activity (PA); an overview combining these (mixed) results, however, is missing. Thus, the objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate whether and to which extent PA changed from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking age, gender, and measurement method into account. The literature search was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Results of the main characteristics were descriptively synthesized and analyzed in a meta-analysis quantifying effects of the pandemic on PA divided by age groups, with additional subgroup analyses of the characteristics age, gender, and measurement method being narratively synthesized. Overall, 57 studies with a total sample size of 119,094 participants (N between 10 and 60,560 subjects) from 14 countries worldwide with participants aged between four and 93 years were included. Thirty-two studies revealed a significant decline in PA, whereas only five studies found a significant increase in PA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourteen studies revealed mixed results. Except for children and adolescents, PA decreased in all age groups, independent of gender. Most self-reported and all device-based measurement methods showed a reduction in PA. However, effects were not found to be significant in all age groups. Nevertheless, the declining trend should be noted and governments should strive to enable PA within periods of pandemic restrictions, or promote alternatives such as digital training to avoid negative health consequences within the population.

Reduced physical activity (PA) and prolonged screen time (ST) negatively influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL), a protective factor against illness and mortality. Studies addressing the relationship between PA, ST, and mental health in youth are scarce, especially in times with high mental health burdens like the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this examination was to investigate whether PA, ST, and HRQoL before COVID-19 predict PA, ST, and HRQoL during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants from the Motorik-Modul Study (MoMo; N = 1711; Mage = 10.36 (SD = 4.04) years, female = 49.8%; healthy weight = 76.8%) self-reported their PA and ST as well as HRQoL both before and during COVID-19. Relationships of all variables, from before to during COVID-19, were investigated through a path prediction model. Results showed all variables during COVID-19 were predicted by the respective levels before COVID-19, independent of gender and age. Cross-lags revealed a negative influence of before COVID-19 ST on during COVID-19 PA. HRQoL before COVID-19 was positively associated with during COVID-19 PA in children younger than 10 years and females, but not in adolescents and boys. As age- and gender-independent negative influence of before COVID-19 ST on during COVID-19 PA has been detected, health policy may be advised to focus on a general reduction in ST instead of PA enhancement to ensure high PA levels.

Physical fitness (PF) of children and adolescents is an important resource for their future health. Population-based studies, however, rarely report secular changes of PF, although monitoring of these is crucial to deriving information for adequate interventions. This review aims to report trends in PF of children and adolescents. A literature search was conducted in PubMed in July 2019. Cohort studies published in English allowing statements to be made on trends in PF by comparing youth between the ages of four and 18 years were included. The review identified 24 studies from 16 countries meeting the inclusion criteria, with an overall sample size of more than 860,000 children and adolescents. Through a standardized quality assessment tool, we classified two studies as strong, 21 as moderate, and only one as weak. We analyzed specific secular trends separately for the five different dimensions: endurance, strength, speed, flexibility, and coordination. The majority of studies report a decline of PF over time; however, a few studies report conflicting results. Performance in endurance, strength, and flexibility decreased over time, whereas there was no consistent trend reported for speed and coordination. Overall, there is no international standard on examining and reporting changes or secular trends in PF of children and adolescents, and comparability of studies is limited due to heterogeneous conditions of conducting and analyzing PF tests. Consequently, standardized and consistent international monitoring should be implemented.

With digitalization and virtual entertainment being the megatrends of the 21st century, there is reasonable concern about the role of physical activity (PA) in the daily life of children and adolescents. To identify risk-groups with insufficient PA and to guide interventions, continuous and representative tracking of PA is crucial. In this paper, representative PA data of children and adolescents from the Motorik-Modul (MoMo) baseline study (2003–2006, N = 4,528) is compared to those of Wave 2 (2014–2017, N = 3,708). Participants aged 4–17 were drawn out of 167 sample points in Germany and the data was weighted to ensure representativeness for Germany. Organized (sports clubs and schools) and unorganized (unorganized sports and playing outside) PA was measured by questionnaire and stratified by sex, age, and socioeconomic status. Contrary to common expectation, overall PA remained stable among youths in the past ten years, however, there is an ongoing trend towards organized forms of PA at the expense of unorganized sports and playing outside. Besides different trends in settings, there is inequality in PA distribution among socioeconomic status and gender, unequally pronounced in different settings.