Relationship between parents' and children's objectively assessed movement behaviours prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could have provoked undesirable harmful effects on movement behaviours among children.

objectiveTo compare levels of physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep time in children prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic (after the lockdown) and to determine the association between changes in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), total PA (TPA), SB, and sleep time between mothers and fathers with their children.

methodsA total of 110 children (aged 4-7 years) and their parents (63 mothers and 52 fathers) wore GENEActiv accelerometers for 6 days (4 weekdays and 2 weekend days) prior to the pandemic and 1 year into the pandemic to assess SB, MVPA, TPA, and sleep time.

resultsChildren performed more MVPA on weekdays (p = 0.002), had higher SB (p = 0.001), and slept fewer hours during the pandemic than before (p < 0.001). Likewise, children performed more weekend day MVPA and TPA (p < 0.001) during the pandemic, and slept less than prior to the pandemic (p = 0.002). On weekdays, an increase in mother's MVPA and TPA (categorized as tertiles) was associated with higher increased on MVPA (p = 0.030) and TPA in their children (p = 0.023), respectively. On weekends, an increase in mother's MVPA was also associated with higher increases in MVPA (p = 0.011) in their children.

conclusionDuring the pandemic, children got more MVPA, more SB, and slept fewer hours than before. Changes in PA seem to be associated with mother's behaviours, especially during weekdays.