Physical Activity Types Among School-Aged Children During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

The COVID-19 pandemic may have had long-lasting detrimental effects on children's physical health. Previous studies have shown that children's participation in physical activity (PA) declined during the pandemic. This study examined the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on PA type selection and the influence of gender, number of siblings, residence type, and caregiver education level on PA.

Parents of Saudi children (ages 6-9 years) were recruited through convenience sampling and completed an online survey between July and August 2020. The parent-reported survey included demographics and PA types across three time periods (pre-, during, and post-lockdown). Chi-squared tests and logistic regression with pairwise comparisons were used to analyze the differences.

Parents reported that children (n = 361, mean age 7.7 ± 1.1 years) selected different PA types pre-COVID-19 pandemic more often than during the COVID-19 lockdown, such as swimming (16.9% vs. 12.8%), high-intensity jumping (9.8% vs. 6.6%), cycling (12.8% vs. 9.6%), football (14.3% vs. 6.1%), running (9.3% vs. 5.5%), virtual gaming exercise (5% vs. 3.2%), and playground activity (11.3% vs. 5.8%) (p < 0.05). Additionally, PA type was shown to be influenced by gender and residence type, with girls being 55% more likely to be physically active during COVID-19 compared to boys, and participants living in houses without private yards being less physically active compared to those who lived in houses with private yards.

Children's gender (boy vs. girl) and residence type (with private yards vs. without private yards) affected their PA level during the COVID-19 lockdown. These findings suggest that more effort should be directed toward understanding the influence of gender and house types in the selection of PA types.