(PS6-C66) Physical Activity in Youth Populations During COVID-19

Background: Greater engagement in moderate-vigorous p</span>hysical activity (MVPA) in children is associated with lower cardio-metabolic risk factors as well as greater psychological well-being. However, studies to date suggest that the majority of children do not accumulate the recommended 60 minutes per day of MVPA. Furthermore, a global decline in physical activity has been documented in studies conducted among adults during COVID-19. During a time where maintaining adaptive health behaviors are especially important, it is necessary to observe whether these trends are affecting youth as well. However, there is a paucity of literature documenting objectively-measured physical activity among children in the US during COVID-19. This study aimed to describe objectively-measured physical activity levels among children enrolled in the nationwide ABCD study during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of MVPA and steps per day, a commonly used proxy for free-wheeling physical activity. 

Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of a multi-site nationwide longitudinal study that includes children (N = 554) aged 9 to 10 who wore a Fitbit activity monitor for a one-week monitoring protocol during March-November, 2020. Descriptive analyses included mean MVPA and mean steps per day in the sample and in sub-groups of children according to youth’s parent-reported race/ethnicity and biological sex. T-tests were used to examine differences in average daily step count and MVPA by biological sex. Percentages were calculated to determine rates of adherence to the recommended 60 minutes MVPA. Finally, t-tests compared COVID-impacted means for daily step counts and MVPA with the documented means collected in the ABCD data set prior to the pandemic (pre-COVID study methods and results reported elsewhere).

Results: During COVID-19, this study observed a 21% decrease in daily MVPA (M = 30.64 minutes, SD = 29.485; t[5516] = 5.2463, p < .001) and a 19% decrease in daily steps (M = 7908.52, SD = 3486.091; t[5516] = 12.3388, p < .001) relative to pre-COVID levels, with 84% of children failing to accumulate the recommended 60 minutes per day of MVPA during the pandemic. There was a significant difference in MVPA by sex (t[434.790] = 9.385, p < .001), with biological males demonstrating a mean of 41.80 minutes per day (SD = 33.583) and biological females demonstrating a mean of 19.81 minutes per day (SD = 19.549). A similar difference was observed in daily step count (t[4781.904] = 18.089, p < .001), with biological males demonstrating a mean of 10590.90 steps (SD = 3622.903) and biological females demonstrating a mean of 8934.19 steps (SD = 2803.611).

Conclusion: In this nationwide sample, the overwhelming majority of youth did not meet minimum physical activity recommendations during COVID-19, with average levels of engagement in physical activity for girls falling even lower than the observed deficits among boys. These data indicate that large portions of this population are missing out on the benefits in mental and physical health that are often associated with physical activity. Additional research in this population is needed to elucidate how systemic barriers can disproportionately affect different demographic groups.