Relationship between parents' and children's objectively assessed movement behaviours prior to and during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could have provoked undesirable harmful effects on movement behaviours among children.Objective: To compare levels of physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep time in children prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic (after the lockdown) and to determine the association between changes in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), total PA (TPA), SB, and sleep time between mothers and fathers with their children.Methods: A total of 110 children (aged 4-7 years) and their parents (63 mothers and 52 fathers) wore GENEActiv accelerometers for 6 days (4 weekdays and 2 weekend days) prior to the pandemic and 1 year into the pandemic to assess SB, MVPA, TPA, and sleep time.Results: Children performed more MVPA on weekdays (p = 0.002), had higher SB (p = 0.001), and slept fewer hours during the pandemic than before (p < 0.001). Likewise, children performed more weekend day MVPA and TPA (p < 0.001) during the pandemic, and slept less than prior to the pandemic (p = 0.002). On weekdays, an increase in mother's MVPA and TPA (categorized as tertiles) was associated with higher increased on MVPA (p = 0.030) and TPA in their children (p = 0.023), respectively. On weekends, an increase in mother's MVPA was also associated with higher increases in MVPA (p = 0.011) in their children. Conclusion:During the pandemic, children got more MVPA, more SB, and slept fewer hours than before. Changes in PA seem to be associated with mother's behaviours, especially during weekdays.

How the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures reduce physical activity among children and adolescents in the WHO European Region: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Our systematic literature search identified 14,891 non-duplicate records and six grey literature publications. Of these, 135 studies and six grey literature reports were assessed for eligibility (full-text screening) and 25 [ 24 , 25 , 29 – 31 , 33 – 35 , 37 , 39 – 43 , 45 , 48 – 55 , 71 , 72 ] studies and one report [ 32 ] were deemed to meet the criteria for inclusion in the review (AF 1 : Fig. S1).…”

“…A detailed description of the included publications is presented in Table 1 and AF 1 : Table S9. The included 26 publications are scattered across 14 WHO European Region countries: four from Spain [ 43 , 45 , 48 , 49 ], four from the United Kingdom [ 52 – 55 ], three from Germany [ 30 , 31 , 73 ], two from Croatia [ 25 , 71 ], two from Italy [ 34 , 35 ], two from Poland [ 39 , 72 ], two from Slovenia [ 41 , 42 ], and one each from Bosnia and Herzegovina [ 24 ], Czech Republic [ 29 ], Ireland [ 33 ], Netherlands [ 37 ], Portugal [ 40 ], Sweden [ 50 ] and Switzerland [ 51 ]. A graphical overview of how these studies are distributed is provided in AF 1 : Fig.…”

“…S2. TPA and MVPA were analyzed in 15 publications (TPA: [ 24 , 25 , 29 , 30 , 34 , 35 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 55 , 71 ], MVPA: [ 31 , 33 , 35 , 37 , 39 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 48 , 50 , 53 – 55 , 72 , 73 ]) respectively, and SA in three publications [ 31 , 51 , 73 ]. Self-reported data were collected in 20 analyses [ 24 , 25 , 29 – 31 , 33 – 35 , 39 – 42 , 49 – 53 , 71 – 73 ] and accelerometer data in six analyses [ 35 , 37 , 43 , 45 , 48 , 55 ].…”

“…The publications were conducted as cohort ( n = 15, [ 24 , 25 , 31 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 48 , 50 , 52 , 55 , 71 , 73 ]), cross-sectional ( n = 7, [ 29 , 30 , 39 , 42 , 49 , 53 , 54 ]) or retrospective studies ( n = 4, [ 33 , 40 , 51 , 72 ]). The majority were carried out in spring/summer 2020 ( n = 18, [ 24 , 25 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 40 – 43 , 48 , 51 – 53 , 55 , 71 , 72 ]) or winter 2020/2021 ( n = 6, [ 29 , 35 , 39 , 45 , 49 , 73 ]). In 24 publications, the period during the pandemic was classified as ‘full lockdown’ (Oxford COVID-19 Stringency Index > 60, [ 24 , 25 , 29 – 31 , 33 – 35 , 37 , 39 – 43 , 45 , 48 – 53 , 55 , 71 , 73 ]).…”

“…The majority were carried out in spring/summer 2020 ( n = 18, [ 24 , 25 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 40 – 43 , 48 , 51 – 53 , 55 , 71 , 72 ]) or winter 2020/2021 ( n = 6, [ 29 , 35 , 39 , 45 , 49 , 73 ]). In 24 publications, the period during the pandemic was classified as ‘full lockdown’ (Oxford COVID-19 Stringency Index > 60, [ 24 , 25 , 29 – 31 , 33 – 35 , 37 , 39 – 43 , 45 , 48 – 53 , 55 , 71 , 73 ]). In 20 publications, pandemic-measurement occurred during partial or full school closures (School Closure Index ≥ 2, [ 24 , 25 , 29 – 31 , 33 – 35 , 39 – 43 , 48 , 52 , 53 , 55 , 71 – 73 ]).…”