The Impact of Distance Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical Activity and Well-Being of Czech and Polish Adolescents.
Karel Frömel, Dorota Groffik, Petr Valach and 2 others
PMID 35916129WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents reported less physical activity, more sitting, and lower well-being during distance education than before the pandemic.
Girls reported lower well-being than boys.
Key findings
01During distance education, boys showed statistically significant decreases in school, transportation, recreation, vigorous, moderate, walking, and overall weekly physical activity.
02Boys and girls both showed statistically significant increases in sitting time during distance education compared with habitual education.
03During distance education, 34.9% of girls reported a good level of well-being, compared with 43.8% during habitual education.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study compared different schools before and during the pandemic, not the same schools. Physical activity, sitting time, height, and weight were self-reported, and the authors did not use the self-reported somatometric data in further analyses. The measurement periods were in different months, before the pandemic mainly in September, October, and November, and during distance education mainly in January, February, and March. During distance education, refusals and incorrect questionnaire completion were higher, and the exact number of refusals could only be estimated. A total of 115 respondents were excluded for not completing the questionnaire according to the protocol. The study did not use objective tools for monitoring physical activity.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was named as Grantová Agentura České Republiky.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that distance education caused lower physical activity or lower well-being. The study compared different schools and time periods using self-reported questionnaires, so it cannot prove cause.