HEALTHY HABITS IN CSIC WORKERS DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN IN SPAIN

Aim: COVID-19 crisis has caused a deep change in citizen's lifestyle. Previous outbreaks have shown that people under confinement can develop mental health problems and cause effects on physical activity (PA) and changes in the diet habits. Subject and Methods: An online questionnaire about healthy habits during the Spanish lockdown was sent to workers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Results: A general improvement in the dietary patterns, except for the intake of snacks and bakery goods was observed. PA was subs-tantially reduced, mostly in men, unlike the emotional changes, which were greater in women, mainly observed as anxiety and sleep disorders. Additionally, emotional eating (EE) behaviors were detected mainly in women, although the intake related to boredom was observed in both genders. Conclusions: Ove-rall, the dietary patterns of CSIC workers followed the general recommendations for COVID-19 lockdown. However, half of the participants decreased their PA practice. Regarding to the emotional changes, emotional eating behaviors were associated with anxiety, especially in women, and boredom for both genders. © 2022, CSIC Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. All rights reserved.

Achieving an Active Lifestyle within a Walkable Environment: Assessment of Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Having an active lifestyle has been regarded as one of the main factors for maintaining a healthy and happy life. However, previous studies have pointed out that most Malaysian adults are reported to be physically inactive due to lifestyle changes such as increasingly sedentary lifestyles, decreased physical activity (PA), and growing reliance on automobiles for mobility. Subsequently, the COVID-19 pandemic has further impacted the quality of the urban population's active lifestyles, particularly the disruption resulting from movement restriction control orders which has limited the ability to maintain an active lifestyle. This scenario has the potential to negatively impact the health and mental state of the population if it continues without intervention by relevant stakeholders. Therefore, this study examined the patterns of PA and body mass index (BMI) and assessed the association between PA and a walkable environment to maintain an active lifestyle in Kuala Lumpur city centre before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study 'walkable environment' refers to a physical attribute that encourages walking for functional and recreational purposes and `active lifestyle' refers to walking being the main physical PA that contributes to health as part of people's regular routine. This study adopted the mixed method approach through an online questionnaire survey, combined with the observation of selected areas and content analysis of written documents. The findings show that most respondents perceived that walking was the main PA that contributes to health. In terms of effects, walkable environments have been shown to have a positive impact on PA and health by encouraging an active lifestyle. (C) 2022 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved

Causal relationship between physical activity, leisure sedentary behaviors and COVID-19 risk: a Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: The 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) poses an enormous threat to public health worldwide, and the ensuing management of social isolation has greatly decreased opportunities for physical activity (PA) and increased opportunities for leisure sedentary behaviors (LSB). Given that both PA and LSB have been established as major influencing factors for obesity, diabetes and cardiometabolic syndrome, whether PA/LSB in turn affects the susceptibility to COVID-19 by disrupting metabolic homeostasis remains to be explored. In this study, we aimed to systematically evaluate the causal relationship between PA/LSB and COVID-19 susceptibility, hospitalization and severity using a Mendelian randomization study. METHODS: Data were obtained from a large-scale PA dataset (N = 377,000), LSB dataset (N = 422,218) and COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (N = 2,586,691). The causal effects were estimated with inverse variance weighted, MR-Egger, weighted median and MR-PRESSO. Sensitivity analyses were implemented with Cochran's Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, MR-PRESSO, leave-one-out analysis and the funnel plot. Risk factor analyses were further conducted to investigate the potential mediators. RESULTS: Genetically predicted accelerometer-assessed PA decreased the risk for COVID-19 hospitalization (OR = 0.93, 95% CI 0.88-0.97; P = 0.002), while leisure television watching significantly increased the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization (OR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.29-1.88; P = 4.68 × 10-6) and disease severity (OR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.33-2.56; P = 0.0002) after Bonferroni correction. No causal effects of self-reported moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), accelerometer fraction of accelerations > 425 milligravities, computer use or driving on COVID-19 progression were observed. Risk factor analyses indicated that the above causal associations might be mediated by several metabolic risk factors, including smoking, high body mass index, elevated serum triglyceride levels, insulin resistance and the occurrence of type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSION: Our findings supported a causal effect of accelerometer-assessed PA on the reduced risk of COVID-19 hospitalization as well as television watching on the increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and severity, which was potentially mediated by smoking, obesity and type 2 diabetes-related phenotypes. Particular attention should be given to reducing leisure sedentary behaviors and encouraging proper exercise during isolation and quarantine for COVID-19.

Effects of Covid-19 on physical activity and eating behaviours and their mutual relationship.

The study aimed to determine the relationship between physical activity and eating behaviours among the physical therapy students of various physical therapy institutes of Rawalpindi/Islamabad during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was conducted from September 2020 to February 2021. It was a cross sectional co-relational survey of a total of 209 physical therapy students, and the sampling technique was purposive sampling. Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26) Questionnaire and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) were used as the data collection tools. Healthy young students of 18-26 years of age, of both genders, were included and students with major functional limitations were excluded from the study. The results showed that 87 (41.6%) participants had normal EAT-26 scores whereas 122 (58.4%) had abnormal EAT-26 scores. IPAQ scores were categorically distributed into low, moderate, and high levels of physical activity. Eighty-seven (41.6%) had low levels of physical activity, 106 (50.7%) had moderate levels of physical activity, and 16 (7.7%) had high levels of physical activity. Spearman Rho test of correlation was applied with the p-value 0.219, and R-value of correlation was 0.08, which showed weak positive correlation between physical activity and eating behaviours. The study concluded that restricted physical activity and home confinement due to Covid-19 pandemic, did not potentially affect the physical therapy students' eating behaviours.

Women's Lives Matter-The Critical Need for Women to Prioritize Optimal Physical Activity to Reduce COVID-19 Illness Risk and Severity.

Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for the health and wellness of individuals and societies. During an infectious disease pandemic, such as the one caused by COVID-19, social distancing, quarantines, and lockdowns are used to reduce community spread of the disease. Unfortunately, such nonpharmacological interventions or physical risk mitigation measures also make it challenging to engage in PA. Reduced PA could then trigger physiological changes that affect both mental and physical health. In this regard, women are more likely to experience physical and psychological distress. PA is a safe and effective nonpharmacological modality that can help prevent and manage several mental and physical health problems when performed correctly. PA might even confer benefits that are directly related to decreasing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in women. In this review, we summarize why optimal PA must be a priority for women during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then discuss chronic COVID-19 illness and its impact on women, which further underscores the need for worldwide preventive health strategies that include PA. Finally, we discuss the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 for women, as part of prioritizing preventive healthcare and an active lifestyle.

Does Physical Activity Matter for the Mental Health of University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Research indicates that university and college students are at higher risk of experiencing mental health problems than other populations. This study aims to examine the relationship between Physical Activity (PA) and the mental health of Ukrainian university students during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown. The conventional sample consisted of 1512 students from 11 Ukrainian universities, with a mean age of 20 years (M = 20.06, SD = 3.05) and 69% of whom were female. The cross-sectional online survey was disseminated through the most popular social media channels in Ukraine (i.e., Facebook, Viber, Telegram) and included the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale to measure anxiety and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess depression. Data were collected from 14 May to 4 June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Ukraine. Among university students, 43% were engaged in PA ≥ 150 min weekly, 24% met the criteria of GAD, and 32% met the criteria of depression. More students were involved in PA before the COVID-19 outbreak than during the national lockdown. Students with anxiety and depression were almost two times less likely to engage in PA than their counterparts without mental health disorders. The inactive group had higher scores of anxiety and depression than the physically active group. The relationship of PA with anxiety and depression was statistically significant but weak during the COVID-19 pandemic.