Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep 16;7(9):138.
doi: 10.3390/children7090138.

COVID-19 Impact on Behaviors across the 24-Hour Day in Children and Adolescents: Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep

Affiliations

COVID-19 Impact on Behaviors across the 24-Hour Day in Children and Adolescents: Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep

Lauren C Bates et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, social restrictions to contain the spread of the virus have disrupted behaviors across the 24-h day including physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep among children (5-12 years old) and adolescents (13-17 years old). Preliminary evidence reports significant decreases in physical activity, increases in sedentary behavior, and disrupted sleep schedules/sleep quality in children and adolescents. This commentary discusses the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on behaviors across the 24-h day in children and adolescents. Furthermore, we suggest recommendations through the lens of a socio-ecological model to provide strategies for lasting behavior change to insure the health and well-being of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: 24-h day; COVID-19; adolescents; children; physical activity; sedentary behavior; sleep.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of potential barriers to healthy behaviors across the 24-h day: socio-ecological model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Socio-ecological model behavior recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The 24-h movement behavior recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

    1. Sohrabi C., Alsafi Z., O’Neill N., Khan M., Kerwan A., Al-Jabir A., Iosifidis C., Agha R. World HealthOrganization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) Int. J. Surg. 2020;76:71–76. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.02.034. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. COVID-19 Map-Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. [(accessed on 20 July 2020)]; Available online: https://mashupmd.com/covid-19-map-johns-hopkins-coronavirus-resource-cen...
    1. Couzin-Frankel J., Vogel G., Weiland M. School openings across globe suggest ways to keep coronavirus at bay, despite outbreaks. Science. 2020;369:241–245. - PubMed
    1. Margaritis I., Houdart S., El Ouadrhiri Y., Bigard X., Vuillemin A., Duché P. How to deal with COVID-19 epidemic-related lockdown physical inactivity and sedentary increase in youth? Adaptation of Anses’ benchmarks. Arch. Public Health. 2020;78:1–6. doi: 10.1186/s13690-020-00432-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vanderloo L.M., Carsley S., Aglipay M., Cost K.T., Maguire J., Birken C.S. Applying Harm Reduction Principles to Address Screen Time in Young Children Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. J. Dev. Behav. Pediatr. 2020;41:335–336. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000825. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources