ການສຶກສາຄົ້ນພົບວ່າເດັກນ້ອຍເຮັດກິດຈະກໍາທາງດ້ານຮ່າງກາຍຫນ້ອຍລົງ 20% ທ່າມກາງໂລກລະບາດ

Higher intensity activities fell 32% – according to the findings from 22 international peer-reviewed studies on 14,000 children between Jan. 1 2020 and Jan. 1, 2022 – corresponding to a 17-minute reduction in moderate to vigorous daily physical activity.

A 17-minute decline in physical time also represents a one-third reduction in recommended physical activity for young children and school children, to promote good physical health and psychosocial functioning, the study found.

The study warns the pandemic could also mark a “developmental turning point” in not only physical activity, but a “perfect storm of habit discontinuity” that could have wide-ranging effects on physical and mental health.

Not surprisingly, children with consistent access to outdoor spaces were twice as likely to meet physical activity guidelines, while children who lived in cooler areas faced an even more significant reduction in physical activity (37%) when pandemic restrictions were compounded by cold weather.

There is an “urgent need” for public health initiatives to revive young people’s interest in, and support their demand for, physical activity during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, the study stated.

While it is accepted that imposing restrictions was critical to halting the community transmission of Covid-19, these restrictions may have had the unintended consequence of negatively affecting physical and, likely by extension, mental health, the study found.