School-Aged Children’s Physical Activity during the COVID-19 pandemic: results of the Russian part of the international study in 9 European countries

Abstract

AIM: Assessment of the School-Aged Childrens Physical Activity (PA) in the Russian Federation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and its compliance with the WHO recommendations. METHODS: This was a multi-national cross-sectional study. More than 24,000 children aged 618 years from nine European countries (Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Russian Federation, Poland, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, and Denmark) participated in the online survey. In the Russian Federation, the online survey was conducted from 28th January to 10th February 2021. The questionnaire was completed by 13,392 children or their parents from 64 Russian regions. In total, 11,763 respondents were included in the study, i.e., 50.8% boys (n=5985) and 49.2% girls (n=5778), 72% urban residents, and 28% rural residents. The mean age (MSD) was 11.242.93 years. The questionnaire contained five sections questions about the socio-demographic data; physical activity, play, or sedentary behavior in the last seven days; comparison of the child's PA at the moment with PA during the first wave of COVID-19; comparison of the child's PA at the moment with the PA before the COVID-19 pandemic; compliance with WHO global recommendations on PA and sedentary lifestyle; questions about the socio-demographic background of the parent/guardian. Survey data were obtained via online platforms. Meeting the WHO Global Guidelines was defined as 60-minute MVPA per day for a week; total screen time of fewer than 2 hours per day. Data were presented as absolute values and percentages. Chi-Square (2) test was used to compare percentages to identify significant differences. A p-value of 0.05 indicated statistical significance. RESULTS: Outcomes of this online survey revealed that only a small percentage of children followed the PA guidelines. Therefore, the proportion of children following the WHO recommendations was only 7.5%. An increase in screen time on weekdays during the pandemic was observed in 21.9% of the participants, and on weekends 20.3%. CONCLUSION: These results should be used to develop and implement targeted measures to prevent low levels FA among school-age children.