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. 2022 Jan;17(1):e12846.
doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12846. Epub 2021 Aug 18.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on elementary schoolers' physical activity, sleep, screen time and diet: A quasi-experimental interrupted time series study

Sarah Burkart  1 , Hannah Parker  1 , R Glenn Weaver  1 , Michael W Beets  1 , Alexis Jones  1 , Elizabeth L Adams  2 , Jean-Philippe Chaput  3 , Bridget Armstrong  1
Affiliations

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on elementary schoolers' physical activity, sleep, screen time and diet: A quasi-experimental interrupted time series study

Sarah Burkart et al. Pediatr Obes. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 school closures pose a threat to children's wellbeing, but no COVID-19-related studies have assessed children's behaviours over multiple years .

Objective: To examine children's obesogenic behaviours during spring and summer of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous data collected from the same children during the same calendar period in the 2 years prior.

Methods: Physical activity and sleep data were collected via Fitbit Charge-2 in 231 children (7-12 years) over 6 weeks during spring and summer over 3 years. Parents reported their child's screen time and dietary intake via a survey on 2-3 random days/week.

Results: Children's behaviours worsened at a greater rate following the pandemic onset compared to pre-pandemic trends. During pandemic spring, sedentary behaviour increased (+79 min; 95% CI = 60.6, 97.1) and MVPA decreased (-10 min, 95% CI = -18.2, -1.1) compared to change in previous springs (2018-2019). Sleep timing shifted later (+124 min; 95% CI = 112.9, 135.5). Screen time (+97 min, 95% CI = 79.0, 115.4) and dietary intake increased (healthy: +0.3 foods, 95% CI = 0.2, 0.5; unhealthy: +1.2 foods, 95% CI = 1.0, 1.5). Similar patterns were observed during summer.

Conclusions: Compared to pre-pandemic measures, children's PA, sedentary behaviour, sleep, screen time, and diet were adversely altered during the COVID-19 pandemic. This may ultimately exacerbate childhood obesity.

Keywords: accelerometry; children; diet; physical activity; screen time; sleep.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Mean estimates of (A) physical activity and sedentary behaviour, (B) screen time, and (C) dietary intake. Dotted lines indicate the trajectory for children who only provided data in 2018 and/or 2019. Solid lines indicate the trajectory for children who participated in the 2020 subsample. Raw means and standard deviations are presented in Table 3
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Bedtime, wake time and sleep midpoint by year. Black diamonds, sleep midpoint; TST, total sleep time in minutes. Dotted lines indicate the bed and wake times for children who only provided data in 2018 and/or 2019. Grey boxes represent children who participated in the 2020 subsample
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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