CHB 2.2.1: “It has never been easier to be physically inactive”

Data on Physical Activity, Exercise and Sedentariness

While evidence further accumulates, studies have investigated the effect of COVID-19 confinements on PA levels and sedentariness with detrimental findings (Ammar et al., 2020; Chtourou et al., 2020; Kirwan et al., 2020; Schladen et al., 2020; Sun et al., 2020; Ugbolue et al., 2020). Results of a survey done by Ammar and colleagues with 1047 participants in Europe, Africa and Asia show that the time spent sitting raised by 3 hours while PA levels (in minutes per day) fell by 33.5% and exercise intensities (in metabolic equivalents [MET]) fell by 42.7% (Ammar et al., 2020). In fact, the authors reported an increase in daily sitting time from 5.31 h to 8.41h per day after the implementation of COVID-19 confinements. Further, the authors emphasized that a 35% reduction in number of days per week walking is concerning, since 2.45 days less movement per week represents a serious change. Similarly, sports engagement has decreased by 2.3 h per week in children and adolescents in Italy (Pietrobelli et al., 2020). However, more data is needed to further identify the extent of COVID-19 confinement on these outcomes to derive the full spectrum of potential health risks. One variable of particular interest is the number of steps walked per day as a reflection of daily physical activity, since it is simple to measure and quantities of steps have been used to classify levels of physical activity (Bowden Davies et al., 2019). Further, in light of WHO recommendations for PA and exercise, future studies should examine durations of physical activity in higher intensity levels, e.g. vigorous, as the intensity of effort was suggested to be an important variable for exercise effectivity, potentially outweighing the accumulation of a minimum amount of volume (Steele et al., 2017). Overall, there appears to be agreeing consensus of studies on confinements during COVID-19, showing a trend to decreased quantities of physical activity, i.e. duration of PA, as well as qualities (i.e. intensities), while sedentariness increases (Chtourou et al., 2020).