"Wearables on vogue": a scoping review on wearables on physical activity and sedentary behavior during COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Wearables are intriguing way to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior in populations with and without chronic diseases. However, the contemporary evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of wearables on physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be explored. Aim: The present review aims to provide the readers with a broader knowledge of the impact of wearables on physical health during the pandemic. Methods: Five electronic databases (Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Embase) were searched. The eligibility criteria of the studies to be included were based on PICOT criteria: population (adults, children and elderly), intervention (wearable, smartphones), comparison (any behavioral intervention), outcome (physical activity or sedentary behavior levels) and time frame (between December 1st, 2019 and November 19th, 2021). The present scoping review was framed as per the guidelines of the Arksey and O'Malley framework. Results: Of 469 citations initially screened, 17 articles were deemed eligible for inclusion and potential scoping was done. Smartphone-based applications with inbuilt accelerometers were commonly used, while a few studies employed smart bands, smartwatches for physical health monitoring. Most of the studies observed the increased use of wearables in healthy adults followed by elderly, children and pregnant women. Considerable reduction (almost-50%) in physical activity during the pandemic: daily step count (- 2812 steps/min), standing (- 32.7%) and walking (- 52.2%) time was found. Conclusion: Wearables appears to be impending means of improving physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11332-021-00885-x.

Short-term effects of a social media-based intervention on the physical and mental health of remotely working young software professionals: A randomised controlled trial.

The present study aimed to explore the short term effects of a social media-based intervention on the physical and mental health of the software professionals working remotely during the pandemic. Sixty software professionals with poor physical and mental health were randomised to Facebook-based intervention (FIIT) and a control (CONT) group for 2 months. Forty-six remote workers (26.25 ± 3.49 years) completed the study (FIIT = 22; CONT = 26). All the respondents had the median sitting time (7.07 ± 2.30 h/day) during office hours on workdays. We found a significant difference in the sitting time during office hours in workday within the subjects (F1,46 = 4.66; p < .004; ηp2  = .048) and between the subjects (F1,46 = 3.81; p < .004; ηp2  = .040). Post hoc analysis revealed participants in the FIIT group reduced their sitting time by 58 min during office hours during a typical workday compared with the control group. Nevertheless, we found a significant difference in the scores of stress, anxiety and depression within and between the groups. Short-term social media-based physical and mental health intervention may improve physical and mental health scores in the desk-based office workers working remotely.

Association between physical and mental health variables among software professionals working at home: a secondary analysis.

The association of physical activity (PA) or sedentary behaviour (SB) with mental health in remotely working software professionals remains unclear. We administered a secondary analysis of physical health variables (PA and SB time during work and non-work days) and mental health variables (stress, anxiety, depression) from a primary study. Ninety-five per cent of the participants (n = 76) did not meet the global PA recommendations. Our study found daily PA time to be negatively associated with stress (ß = -1.57; p = 0.02), anxiety (ß = -1.01; p = 0.04) and depression (ß = -0.68; p = 0.47). Furthermore, the average daily sitting time during the work day was found to be positively associated with stress (ß = 0.28; p = 0.00), anxiety (ß = 0.01; p = 0.04) and depression (ß = -0.68; p = 0.03). Organizational policies should advocate the implementation of PA or SB strategies for improving mental health in remote workers.Trial registrationClinical Trials Registry India identifier CTRI/2021/03/032146.

Estimating the Impact of the Pandemic on Children's Physical Health: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Children are expected to adhere to the recommended physical activity (PA) dose of 60 minutes per day and minimize sedentary behaviors (SB) to stray away from the cardio-metabolic disease risk. However, there is a lack of review of current evidence pointing to the negative physical health effects of the Covid-19 lockdown, with its barriers and facilitators for effective PA implementation in children aged 3 to 13. METHODS: Two independent authors conducted an extensive search on five peer-reviewed journal databases for the studies examining changes in PA or SB in children and the potential barriers during Covid-19 lockdown. RESULTS: Of 1039 studies initially screened, only 14 studies were included. Ninety-three percent of the studies were cross-sectional surveys. A 34% reduction in PA was noted while SB, including screen time, increased by 82%. Our review identified potential barriers to the effective implementation of PA behaviors in children at four levels: individual, family, school, and government policies. CONCLUSIONS: A moderate reduction in PA and high SB in children during lockdown was linked with obstacles at the individual, family, school, and political levels. Stakeholders should consider the above barriers when designing and implementing interventions to address low PA and SB practices.

Sedentarism and chronic disease risk in COVID 19 lockdown - a scoping review.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Though viewed as a critical measure to prevent the spread of the virus, a prolonged homestay may result in unfavourable sedentary behaviour and chronic disease risk. This systematic review focuses on sedentary behaviour resulting from this quarantine period which may elevate the cardiovascular disease risk, obesity, hypertension, cancer and mental health illness. METHODS: Evidence of breaking sedentary behaviour and global recommendations were investigated. Potential unanswered questions regarding sedentary behaviour and physical activity during lockdown were explored. RESULTS: Five systematic reviews and six prospective trials explored the effect of sedentarism affecting chronic disease through potential pathophysiological mechanisms. Sedentary behaviour especially prolonged sitting is found to be a pleiotropic risk factor with altered energy expenditure, adipogenic signalling, immunomodulation, autonomic stability and hormonal dysregulation perpetuating underlying chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health disorders. CONCLUSION: Breaking sitting and physical activity are found to reverse the adverse effects associated with excessive sitting during the lockdown.

"Exercise with facemask; Are we handling a devil's sword?" - A physiological hypothesis.

Straying away from a sedentary lifestyle is essential, especially in these troubled times of a global pandemic to reverse the ill effects associated with the health risks as mentioned earlier. In the view of anticipated effects on immune system and prevention against influenza and Covid-19, globally moderate to vigorous exercises are advocated wearing protective equipment such as facemasks. Though WHO supports facemasks only for Covid-19 patients, healthy "social exercisers" too exercise strenuously with customized facemasks or N95 which hypothesized to pose more significant health risks and tax various physiological systems especially pulmonary, circulatory and immune systems. Exercising with facemasks may reduce available Oxygen and increase air trapping preventing substantial carbon dioxide exchange. The hypercapnic hypoxia may potentially increase acidic environment, cardiac overload, anaerobic metabolism and renal overload, which may substantially aggravate the underlying pathology of established chronic diseases. Further contrary to the earlier thought, no evidence exists to claim the facemasks during exercise offer additional protection from the droplet transfer of the virus. Hence, we recommend social distancing is better than facemasks during exercise and optimal utilization rather than exploitation of facemasks during exercise.