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Minerva Pediatrics 2021 Sep 13

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-5276.21.06194-2

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Impact of the COVID-19 confinement on movement behaviors among French young children: the ONAPS national survey

Alicia FILLON ^{1, 2}, Céline LAMBERT ¹, Michele TARDIEU ¹, Pauline GENIN ¹, Benjamin LARRAS ¹, Pierre MELSENS ¹, Julien BOIS ^{1, 3}, Bruno PEREIRA ^{1, 4}, Nicole S. FEARNBACH ⁵, Angelo TREMBLAY ^{1, 6}, Martine DUCLOS ^{1, 4, 7, 8}, David THIVEL ^{1, 2} ✉

¹ National Observatory for Physical Activity and Sedentary behaviors (ONAPS), Clermont-Ferrand, France; ² EA 3533, Laboratory of the Metabolic Adaptations to Exercise under Physiological and Pathological Conditions (AME2P), CRNH Auvergne, Clermont Auvergne University, Clermont-Ferrand, France; ³ Universite de Pau & des Pays de l'Adour, e2s UPPA, MEPS, Tarbes, France; ⁴ Biostatistics unit (DRCI), Clermont-Ferrand University hospital, Clermont-Ferrand, France; ⁵ Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA; ⁶ Département de kinésiologie, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada; ⁷ University Clermont 1, UFR Medicine, Clermont-Ferrand, France; ⁸ Department of Sport Medicine and Functional Explorations, Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, G. Montpied Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand, France

BACKGROUND: The present study examines the effects of the COVID-19 confinement on healthrelated behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behaviors) of young French children.
METHODS: Parents of 348 French children under 6 years of age completed an online survey launched during the first days of the initial COVID-19-related confinement. They were asked to indicate whether their kids increased, decreased or maintained their physical activity level, time spent in sedentary behaviors, and sleep time. Information regarding the configuration of their home environment (access to outdoor facilities, implantation area) and lifestyle habits (solitary activity, parents’ solicitation; nap time; night waking episodes and night duration) were also collected.
RESULTS: A total of 25.0% of the children were reported to decrease, 24.7% maintained and 50.3% increase their physical activity during the confinement. Greater proportions of kids who had access to a collective (51.4%) or individual (53.7%) outdoor area increased their physical activity. Regardless of the housing situation (urban, suburban or rural) or access to outdoor facilities, the majority of children increased their screen time (60.4%). Two-thirds (66.7%) of parents reported nap time remained unchanged for their kids. Fifty-one percent of parents admitted a link between teleworking and their kids’ screen time.
CONCLUSIONS: Health behaviors were differentially impacted in very young kids during a confinement period. Importantly, a majority of parents admitted a causal effect of telecommuting on their kids’ screen exposure. The present results also show that the proneness to increase physical activity during confinement is positively related to access to a favorable outdoor environment.

KEY WORDS: Children; Physical activity; Sedentary behaviors; COVID-19; Confinement