Changes in Physical Fitness during the COVID-19 Pandemic in German Children

Abstract

With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019, each country has developed strategies to try to control the virus. The restrictions and subsequent consequences also limited the possibilities and structures for being physically active. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine changes in physical fitness in a cohort that was investigated over an extended period. Physical fitness testing was conducted with the IPPTP-R in a primary school from a small rural community annually since 2012. Mean values of test items were calculated for each cohort. We conducted an ANCOVA to examine the differences between cohorts PreCOVID and 2020 as the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and between PreCOVID and 2021 as the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, no evidence for a negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical fitness in children between the ages of 7 and 9 years was found. In strength tests, performances increased when comparing the PreCOVID cohort and COVID-19 cohorts (Push-Ups: p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.032; p = 0.017, ηp2 = 0.006). No evidence for a change was found for endurance (6-min Run: p = 0.341, ηp2 = 0.001; p = 0.267, ηp2 = 0.001. The rural community maintained physical fitness despite restrictions and limitations through the environmental circumstances. Considering this, it is a positive example of how adequate long-term efforts promoting physical fitness make an impact and an active friendly environment helps to overcome COVID-19 pandemics limiting the structures for being physically active.

Secular trends in physical fitness of rural Chinese children and adolescents aged 7–18 years from 1985 to 2019

“…The trends in Slovenia are almost consistent with our study 15 , with speed quality first decreasing and then rebounding. However, studies from some developed countries 6,[38][39][40][41][42] showed different results that speed remained stable in children after 2000, having previously 43 . Our study also found that during the period 2010-2019, the speed of adolescents aged 16-18 years had no significant changes, and some studies also provided some evidence 35,44 .…”

“…The performance of sit-ups improved in Japan but declined after 2019 36 . In some developed countries, increasing or stable sit-up performance was observed in Croatia 14 , Slovenia 15 , Greece 50 Portugal 38 and Germany 42,49,56 , and negative trends were found only in Brazil 48,55 and the United Kingdom 57 . On the other hand, for the bent-arm hangs test, we found that most studies showed downward trends, such as in Slovenia 15 , Dutch 43 , Lithuania 39 , and the UK 57 .…”

“…Cardiorespiratory fitness improved in Japan but worsened after 2019 36 . Previous studies have shown negative trends in cardiorespiratory fitness in children and adolescents in many countries around the world 2,11,13,14,37,39,48,54,55 and some studies have found that cardiorespiratory fitness has been stable (boys or girls or both sexes) in recent years 35,41,42,49,56 . However, there are also studies reporting positive trends, such as Greece 51 , rural Poland (girls) 6 , and Slovenia 15,58 .…”

Covid Pandemic Effects on the Physical Fitness of Primary School Children: Results of the German EMOTIKON Project

“…It is possible that the limited opportunities to perform structured exercise in physical education classes or sports clubs due to social-distancing measures negatively affected children’s physical fitness. Several studies reported declines in children’s cardiorespiratory endurance and changes in their muscular fitness [ 19 – 26 ], although results regarding muscular fitness were inconsistent [ 19 – 22 , 25 – 28 ].…”

“…Another German research group tested 999 primary school children between 2012 and 2021. They found no evidence of pandemic-related declines in children’s cardiorespiratory endurance, but also reported a better standing long jump test performance in the first pandemic year compared to pre-pandemic cohorts [ 22 ]. In contrast, French researchers reported that performance in the standing long jump test, medicine ball push test, and 20-m shuttle run test decreased in third- and fourth-graders during the first pandemic year [ 19 ].…”