Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on daily life around the world though in Sweden the restrictions have been rather mild. The aim is to explore whether the pandemic has led to changes in physical activity (PA) patterns, including sedentary time, Light Physical Activity (LiPA) and Moderate-to-Vigorous-Physical Activity (MVPA) during weekdays and weekends, as well as screen time and sleep. The potential predictors explored include gender, parental education, anthropometrics, and cardiovascular fitness (CVF).

Methods: Data were collected in the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2021. The participants were 13-14 years-old at baseline and lived in the Stockholm area. In total 585 participated at both baseline and follow-up. PA and sedentary time were measured with accelerometers and sleep and screen time with questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. The exposure variables were collected at baseline: gender and parental education via questionnaire, anthropometrics (BMI and body fat percentage measured with standard methods by researchers) and CVF with a submaximal test. Multilevel linear regression analyses were performed.

Results: MVPA remained unchanged while LiPA decreased by 25.5 minutes on weekdays and 10.3 minutes on weekends (both p<0.001) and sedentary time increased by 9.4 minutes on weekdays (p=0.023). Sleep duration decreased by 27.4 minutes on weekdays and 19.1 minutes on weekends (both p<0.001) and screentime increased by around 45 minutes both on weekdays and weekends (p<0.001). Girls, adolescents with overweight/obesity (BMI and percent body fat), and those with lower CVF at baseline had less favourable changes in PA patterns, sleep and screen time.

Conclusions: Previous self-reported data seems to suggest a decrease in physical activity due to the pandemic; this study only found such changes to be present in the lower intensity levels of physical activity but not in the MVPA. It is possible that more strenuous physical activity is more often part of organized sport which seems to have prevailed in Sweden despite the pandemic while habitual less intense activity decreased. Some groups were found to be more vulnerable and might need more support to maintain their physical activity levels, both now in the post-pandemic periods and during future pandemics.