ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Studies investigating associations between natural environments and health outcomes or health behaviors in children and adolescents yielded heterogenous results to date. This may be the result of different geospatial configurations of the natural environment and confounding characteristics of the study population. Thus, we investigated how the relationship between the natural environment and mental health, muscular fitness, and physical activity varies depending on the geospatial configuration of nature and children's and adolescents' characteristics. METHODS: Data were derived from the German Motorik-Modul (MoMo) cohort study (2018-2020) that investigates physical activity, muscular fitness, and health parameters in a national sample of children and adolescents (N = 2843) between four and 17 years (Mage = 10.46 ± 3.49 years; 48.3% girls). Mental health was assessed via questionnaire, muscular fitness via standing long jump, and physical activity with 7-day accelerometer measurement. Using geographic information systems, land cover, and land use data, three different nature definitions were applied. Both circular buffers (100-1000 m) and street-network buffers (1000-5000 m) were created for each of the nature definitions. Associations were explored with linear regression models, and interaction analysis was used to investigate how those relationships vary by gender, age, and socio-economic status. RESULTS: The relationship between the three outcomes and the natural environment varied considerably depending on the nature definition, buffer size, and buffer type, as well as socio-demographic characteristics. Specifically, when comparing youth with a high socio-economic status to those with a medium socio-economic status, smaller circular buffer distances were related to less physical activity, but larger street-network buffer distances were related to greater mental health problems. Distinct relationships also occurred for youth with low socio-economic status in those relationships, with the pattern being less clear. CONCLUSIONS: For future health research studies that investigate the role of the natural environment, we argue for the development of an a-priori model that integrates both geospatial considerations (nature definition, buffer type, and buffer size) and conceptual considerations (health outcome/behavior, sample characteristics) based on potentially underlying mechanisms that link the natural environment and the health outcome or behavior under investigation to theoretically underpin the geospatial configuration of the natural environment.
Subject(s)
Environment , Exercise , Adolescent , Child , Cohort Studies , Female , Health Behavior , Humans , Male , Outcome Assessment, Health CareABSTRACT
The COVID‑19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic created a multitude of natural experiments about the change of human behavior in a widely unfamiliar situation. Besides physical and mental health, physical activity (PA) and people’s movement behaviors were of particular interest to researchers all over the world. In a recent study, we found that among youth in Germany, sports activity declined, whereas recreational screen time and habitual activity increased during the first COVID‑19 lockdown. In the present study, we analyze the influence of the socioeconomic status and the housing situation on the changes in PA behavior and recreational screen-time before and during the first COVID‑19 lockdown among children and adolescents living in Germany. We found an alignment of PA behavior among youth from families with different socioeconomic backgrounds during the first lockdown and identified the housing situation to be a meaningful predictor of the increase in habitual activity. We conclude that restriction policies, communities, and in the last instance parents need to enable access to nonorganized PA to all children and adolescents every day and especially during potential future lockdowns.
ABSTRACT
The COVID‑19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic created a multitude of natural experiments about the change of human behavior in a widely unfamiliar situation. Besides physical and mental health, physical activity (PA) and people’s movement behaviors were of particular interest to researchers all over the world. In a recent study, we found that among youth in Germany, sports activity declined, whereas recreational screen time and habitual activity increased during the first COVID‑19 lockdown. In the present study, we analyze the influence of the socioeconomic status and the housing situation on the changes in PA behavior and recreational screen-time before and during the first COVID‑19 lockdown among children and adolescents living in Germany. We found an alignment of PA behavior among youth from families with different socioeconomic backgrounds during the first lockdown and identified the housing situation to be a meaningful predictor of the increase in habitual activity. We conclude that restriction policies, communities, and in the last instance parents need to enable access to nonorganized PA to all children and adolescents every day and especially during potential future lockdowns.
ABSTRACT
Children in Germany showed positive physical activity changes during the first Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020, but it is unclear how the changes relate to population density, which we investigated in a longitudinal sample of 1711 youth (4-17 years). For each ten citizens more per km2, less positive physical activity changes were observed. For example, a child living in an area with 100 citizens/km2 increased daily life physical activity by 44.50 min/day, whereas a child living in an area with 3000 citizens/km2 only engaged in an additional 9.70 min/day. Policymakers should ensure that youth in densely populated areas have access to physical activity opportunities during the pandemic.
Subject(s)
Built Environment , COVID-19 , Exercise/physiology , Population Density , Child , Female , Germany , Humans , Male , QuarantineABSTRACT
In reply to the comment of Kersting et al [...].
ABSTRACT
Reduced physical activity (PA) and prolonged screen time (ST) negatively influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL), a protective factor against illness and mortality. Studies addressing the relationship between PA, ST, and mental health in youth are scarce, especially in times with high mental health burdens like the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this examination was to investigate whether PA, ST, and HRQoL before COVID-19 predict PA, ST, and HRQoL during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants from the Motorik-Modul Study (MoMo; N = 1711; Mage = 10.36 (SD = 4.04) years, female = 49.8%; healthy weight = 76.8%) self-reported their PA and ST as well as HRQoL both before and during COVID-19. Relationships of all variables, from before to during COVID-19, were investigated through a path prediction model. Results showed all variables during COVID-19 were predicted by the respective levels before COVID-19, independent of gender and age. Cross-lags revealed a negative influence of before COVID-19 ST on during COVID-19 PA. HRQoL before COVID-19 was positively associated with during COVID-19 PA in children younger than 10 years and females, but not in adolescents and boys. As age- and gender-independent negative influence of before COVID-19 ST on during COVID-19 PA has been detected, health policy may be advised to focus on a general reduction in ST instead of PA enhancement to ensure high PA levels.
ABSTRACT
The impact of COVID-19 on social life has been drastic and global. However, the different numbers of cases and different actions in different countries have been leading to various interesting yet unexplored effects on human behavior. In the present study, we compare the physical activity and recreational screen time of a representative sample of 1711 4- to 17-year-olds before and during the strictest time of the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany. We found that sports activity declined whereas recreational screen time increased. However, a substantial increase in habitual physical activities leads to an overall increase in physical activity among children and adolescents in Germany. The effects differ in size but not in their direction between age groups and are stable for boys and girls. We conclude from this natural experiment that physical activity among children and adolescents is highly context-driven and mutual and does not act as a functional opposite to recreational screen time.