Life Habits of Children and Young People during Social Isolation Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the habits of high school and primary school students related to diet and physical activity before and after the period of social isolation. Furthermore, the relationship between parents' attitudes about the importance of physical activity and their children's motivation to engage in it was examined. The online questionnaire was completed by 25,274 parents of primary school students and 5,169 high school graduates from the Republic of Croatia. The results show a trend of decreasing motivation to engage in physical activities, as well as an increase in the number of meals consumed per day among all students. Furthermore, there was a low positive correlation between parental attitudes and the motivation of their children to engage in physical activity both before and during social isolation. In conclusion, this large-scale study showed that due to social isolation there was a significant decrease in the motivation for physical activity and an increase in the number of daily meals.

Physical Activity of Children and Adolescents in Croatia: A Global Matrix 4.0 Systematic Review of Its Prevalence and Associated Personal, Social, Environmental, and Policy Factors

“…A study conducted in a national sample involving 25,274 parents of grade 5 and grade 7 primary school students and 5169 grade 4 secondary school students found that the prevalence of participation in organized sports activities in 2020 was 54.0% among primary school students and 30.0% among secondary school students. 39 In a secondary analysis of data from a study conducted among 809 preschool children from Osijek, Rijeka, Split, and Zagreb macroregions (age: 5-7 y) in 2018/19, 24 we found a prevalence of participation in organized sports activities of 59.2%. Based on data for the year 2022 provided by the Croatian School Sport Federation, it was estimated that 38.6% of primary and secondary school students are members of school sports clubs.…”

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Of these, 18 studies were included in evidence synthesis. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]34,39,47,51,62,69,70,76,81,84,90,100 The stages of search and study selection process are summarized in Figure 1. From the additional internet searches, we selected examples of key national-and county-level physical activity policies, programs, and infrastructure (Supplementary Tables S4 and S5 [available online]).…”

“…Only 8.9% of studies were conducted in national representative samples, 19,21,49,51,[68][69][70]81 while 5.6% of studies were conducted in large national samples. 39,47,72,74,91 Most of the included studies were focused on physical activity, sports participation, and sedentary behavior of children and adolescents, while 15.6% of the included studies assessed policies, infrastructure, budgets, and programs. 22,23,40,41,45,[57][58][59]64,71,76,78,84,90 Most of the studies included in evidence synthesis (83.3%) were of medium-to-high methodological quality (Supplementary Table S6 [available online]).…”

“…A study conducted in a national sample involving 25,274 parents of grade 5 and grade 7 primary school students and 5169 grade 4 secondary school students in 2020 found that 40.3% of primary school students and 22.3% of secondary school students participated in recreational, nonorganized physical activity on at least 4 days per week. 39 A study conducted in a national representative sample including 2711 children (age: 8-8.9 y) as part of the European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative, Croatia (CroCOSI), in 2018/19 found that 54.2% and 90.2% of children spent at least 2 hours per day in active play on weekdays and weekend days, respectively. 70 A CroCOSI study conducted in a national representative sample of 4405 primary school students (age: 6-11 y) in 2015/16 found that 91.7% of children spent at least 1 hour per day in active play outdoors.…”

Teacher wellbeing and retention: The impact of rapidly transforming learning and teaching with digital technologies

“…It is estimated that around 65 million children between the ages of 3 and 15 are directly affected by emergencies and protracted crises worldwide, meaning that they are at risk of lack of protection, disruption of education and displacement, as well as other psychosocial problems (Nicolai et al, 2015). In recent years, interest in researching crisis situations in the education system in the Republic of Croatia has significantly increased, especially during and after the pandemic (e.g., Ristić Dedić & Jokić, 2021;Ćurković et al, 2021;Zovko et al, 2022;Ristić Dedić et al, 2023). In Croatia, coinciding with the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, there were a series of earthquakes that disrupted daily school operations and affected general safety.…”