COVID-19 pandemic brings a sedentary lifestyle: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

ZHENG, C.; HUANG, W. Y.; SHERIDAN, S.; SIT, C. H.-P.; CHEN, X.-K.; WONG, S. H.-S.

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to pose profound challenges on society. Governments around the world have managed to mitigate its spread through strategies including social distancing; however, this may result in the adoption of sedentary lifestyle. This study aimed to investigate: 1) physical activity (PA) levels, sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep among young adults during COVID-19 epidemic, and 2) the change in these behaviors before and during the pandemic. Methods: A total of 631 young adults (38.8% males) participated in the cross-sectional study and completed an online survey that included five components: general information, COVID-19 related issues, PA, SB, and sleep. For longitudinal study, PA, SB, and sleep data collected from 70 participants before and during COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed. Results: Participants reported engaging in low PA, high SB and long sleep duration during COVID-19 pandemic. Females had greater concern for COVID-19 related issues and engaged in more prevention strategies than males. Moreover, a significant decline in PA while increase in both times spent in SB and sleep were determined after COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated a sedentary lifestyle in young adults in responses to social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will assist health policy makers and practitioners in the development of population specific health education and behavior interventions during this pandemic and for other future events.