Regional Difference in the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Domain-Specific Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, Sleeping Time, and Step Count: Web-Based Cross-sectional Nationwide Survey and Accelerometer-Based Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictive environments, such as social distancing and lockdown measures. However, regional differences in the changes in domain-specific PA and SB in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are not clearly understood. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine regional differences in domain-specific PA and SB, as well as sleeping time in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional nationwide survey and an accelerometer-based longitudinal observation were conducted. In the web-based survey, we recruited 150 Japanese men and 150 Japanese women for each of the following age groups: 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s (n=1800). A total of 1627 adults provided valid responses to web-based surveillance from June to July 2020. Participants were recruited from urban (Greater Tokyo Area, n=1028), urban-rural (regional core cities, n=459), or rural (regional small and medium cities, n=140) areas. They answered sociodemographic and health-related questions and retrospectively registered the PA data of their average day before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a web-based PA record system. In the accelerometer-based observation, PA and step count data were obtained using a triaxial accelerometer on people living in urban (n=370) and rural (n=308) areas. RESULTS: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no significant differences between these 3 regions in the time spent sleeping, staying at home, working or studying, and exercising (P>.05). By contrast, people living in urban areas had a longer duration of SB and transportation and a shorter duration of moderate-to-vigorous PA and lying or napping time compared with people living in rural areas (P>.05). During the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant decrease was observed in transportation time in urban (-7.2 min/day, P<.001) and urban-rural (-2.0 min/day, P=.009) areas but not in rural (-0.4 min/day, P=.52) areas. The moderate-to-vigorous PA was decreased in urban (-31.3 min/day, P<.001) and urban-rural (-30.0 min/day, P<.001) areas but not in rural areas (-17.3 min/day, P=.08). A significant increase was observed in time spent sleeping in urban (+22.4 min/day, P<.001) and urban-rural (+24.2 min/day, P<.001) but not in rural areas (+3.9 min/day, P=.74). Lying or napping was increased in urban (+14.9 min/day, P<.001) but not in rural areas (-6.9 min/day, P=.68). PA and step count obtained using an accelerometer significantly decreased in urban (P<.05) but not in rural areas (P>.05). CONCLUSIONS: The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on PA and SB was significantly dependent on living area, even in a single country. The effects of PA and SB were greater in the Greater Tokyo Area and regional core cities but were not observed in regional small and medium cities in Japan.

Sleeping Habits among School Children and Their Effects on Sleep Pattern

Children's mental and physical development are directly influenced by the amount of sleep they get, making it very necessary for them to get enough of it. Despite this, the prevalence of chronic sleep loss throughout the nation is on the rise. In this regard, the purpose of the current research was to shed light on the sleeping patterns of school-going children as well as the behaviours they engage in before going to bed. The objectives of the present study are to determine the pre sleep habits, duration and pattern of sleep among school children and to investigate the effects of the improper sleep on the performance. The study is made to know the sleeping habit of the school students and the effect of improper sleep on their performance health related issues. The study has been carried out in Chennai city. The school going children are the targeted respondents. 600 sample respondents are selected from the study area using simple random technique. The data were collected using the interview schedule. The parents of the children respondents who are aged upto 10 years were asked to fill the interview schedule as the parents are aware and reliable for collecting the information. The findings of our research, it is concluded that the children studying 9th standard and above (aged more than 15 years) are not having proper sleep due to sleeping in day time, use of electronic gadgets, academic commitments, family problems and health problems. Along with proper nutrition and regular exercise, should also take into account how much time is spent sleeping.

Assessment of the Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lifestyle of the Population in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey Study.

Background The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created an unprecedented problem in people's lives around the world. Lockdown measures altered the routine lifestyle aspects of people including diet, exercise, sleep, stress, smoking, job status, recreation, and application of modern technologies. Understanding the lifestyle profile of individuals could help in designing effective interventions to minimize the risk factors of COVID-19-related health problems. Objectives The aim of this research is to investigate the lifestyle changes among adults living in Saudi Arabia (SA) during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Methods A cross-sectional survey study was done to investigate the lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia from August to September 2020. A pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection and distributed online through social media. The questionnaire included items about sleep patterns, dietary habits, physical activity, employment status, recreation activities, use of social media, and screen time before and during the pandemic. Results A total of 338 adults with a median age of 40 years participated in the study. During the pandemic, employment, smoking decreased significantly (53.3 vs. 55.6%, p<0.001 & 15.7% vs. 18.3%, p=0.049) with significant increases in daily intake of fruits or vegetables (47% to 60.2%, p<0.001), caffeinated beverages (seven or more times caffeine, 3% vs. 0.9%, p<0.001), and water (more than eight water cups daily, 18.4 vs. 11.9, p<0.001). Overweight group increased significantly from 28.5% to 32% (p=0.009). Sleeping more than nine hours increased significantly from 8.3% to 21.8% (p<0.001) with increasing sleeping aids from 11.6% to 15.7% (p<0.001). Both the screen and the social media times increased significantly for six or more hours daily (14.8% vs. 35.3% and 9.5% vs. 28.2% respectively, p=<0.001 for both). There were significant decreases in socialization (91.4% vs. 37.8%) and fast food (71.98% vs. 47.04%), and increases in physically inactivity (19% vs. 5.3%) and stress (90.8% vs. 85.2%) (p<0.001 for all). Most participants perceived stress during the pandemic (307, 90.8%). Conclusion There were remarkable behavioral changes in all aspects of the lifestyle of the participants living in SA during the COVID-19 pandemic with some positive effects on smoking and dietary habits. However, negative changes included unemployment, physical inactivity, sleep disturbances, social isolation, and excessive weight gain. There is a need to study the possible consequences of such changes on the future population health in SA.