Widening the gap? Unintended consequences of health promotion measures for young people during COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, global measures preventing the spread of the new coronavirus required most of the population to lockdown at home. This sudden halt to collective life meant that non-essential services were closed and many health promoting activities (i.e. physical activity, school) were stopped in their tracks. To curb the negative health impacts of lockdown measures, activities adapting to this new reality were urgently developed. One form of activity promoted indoor physical activity to prevent the adverse physical and psychological effects of the lockdown. Another form of activity included the rapid development of online learning tools to keep children and youth engaged academically while not attending school. While these health promoting efforts were meant to benefit the general population, we argue that these interventions may have unintended consequences and inadvertently increase health inequalities affecting marginalized youth in particular, as they may not reap the same benefits, both social and physical, from the interventions promoting at-home physical activities or distance learning measures. We elaborate on several interventions and their possible unintended consequences for marginalized youth and suggest several strategies that may mitigate their impact.

Keywords: COVID-19; education; inequalities; physical activity; youth.