On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had become a global pandemic ( WHO, 2020 ). As cases of COVID-19 began to rapidly spread throughout the United States, many state governments across the country determined that “Stay
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#HealthyKidsQuarantined: Supporting Schools and Families With Virtual Physical Activity, Physical Education, and Nutrition Education During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Laurel Whalen, Jeanne Barcelona, Erin Centeio, and Nathan McCaughtry
The Show Must Go On: The Strategy and Spectacle of Dana White’s Efforts to Promote UFC 249 During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Ted M. Butryn, Matthew A. Masucci, and jay a. johnson
crew. The event was trumpeted by Dana White, as the sports event to bring the populace out of the void created by the global pandemic, famously stating that he did not “give a sh*t about the coronavirus” ( Singh, 2020 , para. 6). The decision to move forward with the event was controversial in itself
WhatsApp-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder During the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Feasibility Trial
Oğuz K. Esentürk and Erkan Yarımkaya
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, which is rapidly spreading worldwide, has caused great concern in many countries around the world. According to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine as of May 4, 2020, COVID-19 had caused 251,718 deaths and 3,596,146 cases worldwide ( Johns Hopkins
Effect of Mobility Restrictions During the Coronavirus Disease Epidemic on Body Composition and Exercise Tolerance in Patients With Obesity: Single Institutional Retrospective Cohort Study
Yoshinari Matsumoto, Satoshi Kurose, Takumi Miyauchi, Sawako Yoshiuchi, Daiki Habu, and Yutaka Kimura
group. The first positive case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was confirmed on January 29, 2020 in Osaka and declared a state of emergency in Osaka on April 7, 2020, which was lifted on May 21, 2020. MR indicates mobility restriction. Patient Characteristics Smoking, alcohol
Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown and a Subsequent Retraining Period on Elite Athletes’ Workload, Performance, and Autonomic Responses: A Case Series
Pedro L. Valenzuela, Fernando Rivas, and Guillermo Sánchez-Martínez
Purpose: To describe the effects of COVID-19 lockdown and a subsequent retraining on the training workloads, autonomic responses, and performance of a group of elite athletes. Methods: The training workloads and heart rate variability (assessed through the log-transformed root mean square of successive R–R intervals) of 7 elite badminton players were registered daily during 4 weeks of normal training (baseline), 7 to 10 weeks of lockdown, and 6 to 8 weeks of retraining. Physical performance was assessed at baseline and after each phase by means of a countermovement jump and the estimated squat 1-repetition maximum. Results: A reduction in training workloads was observed in all participants during the lockdown (−63.7%), which was accompanied by a reduced heart rate variability in all but one participant (−2.0%). A significant reduction was also observed for countermovement jump (−6.5%) and 1-repetition maximum performance (−11.5%), which decreased in all but one participant after the lockdown. However, after the retraining phase, all measures returned to similar values to those found at baseline. At the individual level, there were divergent responses, as exemplified by one athlete who attenuated the reduction in training workloads and increased her performance during the lockdown and another one who markedly reduced his workload and performance, and got injured during the retraining phase. Conclusions: Although there seems to be a large interindividual variability, COVID-19 lockdown is likely to impose negative consequences on elite athletes, but these detrimental effects might be avoided by attenuating reductions in training workloads and seem to be overall recovered after 6 to 8 weeks of retraining.
Correlates of Active School Transportation During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Canadian 7- to 12-Year-Olds: A National Study
Richard Larouche, Mathieu Bélanger, Mariana Brussoni, Guy Faulkner, Katie Gunnell, and Mark S. Tremblay
Background: Active school transportation (AST) is an important source of physical activity for children and a potentially important climate change mitigation strategy. However, few studies have examined factors associated with AST in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used baseline data from a longitudinal survey to investigate correlates of AST during the second wave of COVID-19 (December 2020). We collected survey data from 2291 parents of 7- to 12-year-olds across Canada and linked this information with data on neighborhood walkability and weather from national databases. We assessed potential correlates representing multiple levels of influence of the social–ecological model. We used gender-stratified binary logistic regression models to determine the correlates of children’s travel mode to/from school (dichotomized as active vs motorized), while controlling for household income. We examined the correlates of travel mode for both the morning and afternoon trips. Results: Consistent correlates of AST among Canadian children during the COVID-19 pandemic included greater independent mobility, warmer outdoor temperature, having a parent who actively commuted to work or school, living in a household owning fewer vehicles, and living in a more walkable neighborhood. These findings were largely consistent between boys and girls and between morning and afternoon school trips. Conclusions: Policymakers, urban planners, and public health workers aiming to promote AST should focus on these correlates while ensuring that neighborhoods are safe for children. Future research should monitor the prevalence and correlates of AST as COVID-19 restrictions are removed.
The Relative Contributions of Center Demographic, Director, Parental, Social, Environmental, and Policy Factors to Changes in Outdoor Play in Childcare Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Yeongho Hwang, Madison Boyd, Cody Davenport, and Valerie Carson
Background: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the relative contributions of factors from multiple social-ecological levels in explaining outdoor play changes in childcare centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In Alberta, Canada, licensed childcare center directors (n = 160) completed an online questionnaire. For outcomes, changes in the frequency and duration of outdoor play in childcare centers during COVID-19 compared to before COVID-19 were measured. For exposures, center demographic, director, parental, social, environmental, and policy-level factors were measured. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted separately for winter (December–March) and nonwinter months (April–November). Results: In most instances, factors at each social-ecological level explained a statistically significant amount of unique variance in changes in outdoor play in childcare centers during COVID-19. Full models accounted for more than 26% of the variance in the outcomes. Changes in parental interest in outdoor play was the most consistent correlate of changes in the frequency and duration of outdoor play in both winter and nonwinter months during COVID-19. In terms of changes in the duration of outdoor play, social support from the provincial government, health authority, and licensing, and changes in the number of play areas in licensed outdoor play spaces were also consistent correlates in both winter and nonwinter months during COVID-19. Conclusions: Factors from multiple social-ecological levels uniquely contributed to changes in outdoor play in childcare centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings can help inform interventions and public health initiatives related to outdoor play in childcare centers during and after the ongoing pandemic.
Physical Activity, Long-COVID, and Inactivity: A Detrimental Endless Loop
Giuseppe Lippi, Camilla Mattiuzzi, and Fabian Sanchis-Gomar
At the last update at the beginning of 2024, the official number of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reported to the World Health Organization exceeded 1 billion worldwide. 1 Irrespective of these figures, which suffer from a considerable underestimation due to undertesting and
Decreases in Performance Observed After COVID-19 Infection in High School Female Soccer Players
Andrew Wilson, Lynette M. Carlson, Colton Norton, and W. David Bruce
coronavirus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) struck the international health care system with an unprecedented intensity, forcing clinicians to adapt diagnosis, prognosis, and rehabilitation to a new challenge. Amongst the wake coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) brought to the
Impact of COVID-19 on School-Aged Male and Female Health-Related Fitness Markers
Zachary Wahl-Alexander and Clayton L. Camic
Purpose The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) materialized in Wuhan, China, in December of 2019 ( 1 ). Over the several months that followed, COVID-19 began human-to-human transmissions, spreading to over 18 countries and representing a serious public health threat. On March 11, 2020, the World
