Background In the past infectious diseases affected the quality of lifestyle during home confinement. The study conducted examines the influence of home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak on lifestyle, mental wellbeing, nutritional status, and sleeping pattern. Method An online multicategorical questionnaire was distributed to collect demographic information combined with the following tools: Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), WHO-5 wellbeing score, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A snowball non-discriminate sampling procedure was conducted to collect data from people attending or working at higher institutions from March 1, 2020 to April 24, 2020. A total of 1723 completed responses (917 males, 37.4 ±13.4 years old and 806 females 32.2 ± 11.5 years old) were collected. Results The female participants had significantly lower mental health scores than males (53.9% vs. 46.1%). The mental wellbeing scores were higher among participants with medium and high physical activity (PA) levels (p < 0.00). Additionally, the mental wellbeing scores were significantly improved by dietary quality and it’s sleeping score (p < 0.001). However, PA was by far the major determinant of the mental health scores. Conclusion Factors such as PA, diet, and sleeping patterns were associated with mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 confinement among Arab participants.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the tonic neck reflex affects elbow flexor muscle torque production in healthy, young adults and which head-neck (H-N) positions have the greatest influence. Forty-eight male and female students between the ages of 18 and 35 years volunteered as subjects. Head-neck positions involving the sagittal and horizontal planes and combinations of these were tested. The nondominant hand was used to apply tension to the lever of an isokinetic analyzer under both isometric (static) and isotonic (dynamic) conditions. Peak torque was determined for each H-N position under each condition. Differences in peak torque were elicited more easily from the female subjects than from the male subjects. Head-neck rotation (horizontal plane) appeared to have a greater influence on elbow flexor muscle torque production than movements in the sagittal plane, particularly when movements in the two planes were combined. We concluded, therefore, that H-N position must be considered during rehabilitation of the upper extremity.

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abstract:Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the lifestyle habits-physical activity (PA), eating habits (EH), and sleep duration (SD)-of Omani adolescents, and to examine gender differences in such variables. Methods: 802 Omani adolescents (442 females and 360 males), aged 15-18 years were randomly recruited. Anthropometric indices, PA level, and EH and SD were evaluated by the Arab Teenage Lifestyle questionnaire. A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for dietary assessment was also administered. Results: The results showed that although the study subjects had a sedentary lifestyle (lack of PA, average of 6.7 hours sleep, and consumption of high calorie foods), they maintained a normal body mass (less than 25 Kg/m 2 ). Males were more than twice as active as females. With respect to EH, there were few gender differences, except in dairy and meat consumption where 62.5% and 55.5% of males consumed more than 3 servings, respectively, compared to 18.78 % and 35.2% of females, respectively. In addition, waist/height ratio, height, reasons for being active, energy drinks, potato consumption, eating sweets, vigorous PA and breakfast EHs were statistically significant independent predictors for BMI, P <0.05 for both males and females. Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of sedentary behaviors and a low level of physical activity, especially among females. Unhealthy dietary habits were also widely found among both genders. There is an urgent need for more research as well as a national policy promoting active living and healthy eating and discouraging sedentary behaviour among Omani adolescents. Keywords

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