Dalhousie study says local youth more active during pandemic

Researchers at Dalhousie University have found that children and youth in Atlantic Canada were more active during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to youth in other parts of Canada.

According to its most recent paper, the ongoing COVID-19 and Children’s Movement Behaviour Study compiled data from 1,600 surveys that questioned parents about the quantity and quality of their children’s behaviour.

The study took into account children’s movement, their physical activity, outdoor play as well as sleep and screen time.

Overall compliance with 24-hour movement guidelines was low at between just one and six per cent in all regions, however children and youth in Atlantic Canada were more physically active than their peers in other parts of the country during the fall of 2020.

According to Hilary Caldwell, a post-doctoral fellow at Dalhousie’s Healthy Populations Institute, children and youth in Atlantic Canada and the Prairies participated in more energetic play compared to youth in Quebec, which rated the highest among COVID-19 cases at the time.

One possible explanation for the results is the suggestion that lower cases of COVID-19 and loosened public health restrictions might have enabled kids in Atlantic Canada to be more active during this time, notes study lead,Sarah Moore, assistant professor at Dalhousie’s School of Health and Human Performance.

The study was funded by Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia’s Ministry of Community, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, and ParticipACTION.