Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on School-aged Children’s Physical Activity, Screen Time and Sleep in Hong Kong: a Cross-sectional Repeated Measures Study

Hung-Kwan So
ORCID logo ,
Gilbert T Chua
,
Ka-Man Yip
,
Keith TS Tung
,
Rosa S Wong
,
Lobo HT Louie
,
Winnie WY Tso
,
Ian Wong
,
Jason Yam
ORCID logo ,
Mike Kwan
,
Gary KK Lau
,
Judy Kong
,
Wilfred HS Wong
ORCID logo ,
Patrick Ip
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 28 July 2022 / Approved: 29 July 2022 / Online: 29 July 2022 (03:57:32 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

So, H.-K.; Chua, G.T.; Yip, K.-M.; Tung, K.T.S.; Wong, R.S.; Louie, L.H.T.; Tso, W.W.Y.; Wong, I.C.K.; Yam, J.C.; Kwan, M.Y.W.; Lau, K.-K.; Kong, J.K.W.; Wong, W.H.S.; Ip, P. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on School-Aged Children’s Physical Activity, Screen Time, and Sleep in Hong Kong: A Cross-Sectional Repeated Measures Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 10539. So, H.-K.; Chua, G.T.; Yip, K.-M.; Tung, K.T.S.; Wong, R.S.; Louie, L.H.T.; Tso, W.W.Y.; Wong, I.C.K.; Yam, J.C.; Kwan, M.Y.W.; Lau, K.-K.; Kong, J.K.W.; Wong, W.H.S.; Ip, P. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on School-Aged Children’s Physical Activity, Screen Time, and Sleep in Hong Kong: A Cross-Sectional Repeated Measures Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 10539.

Abstract

Despite concerns about the negative effects of social distancing and prolonged school closures on children’s lifestyle and physical activity (PA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, robust evidence is lacking on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s wellbeing and daily life. This study aimed to examine changes in the PA levels, sleep patterns and screen time of school-aged children during the different phases of COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong using a repeated cross-sectional design. School students (Grades 1 to 12) were asked to report their daily electronic device usage and to fill in a sleep dairy recording their daily sleep and wake-up time. They were equipped with a PA monitor, Actigraph wGT3X-BT, to obtain objective data on their PA levels and sleep patterns. Students were recruited before the pandemic (Sep 2019 – Jan 2020; n=577), during school closures (Mar 2020 – Apr 2020; n=146), and after schools partially reopened (Oct 2020 – Jul 2021; n=227). Our results indicated lower PA levels, longer sleep duration, and longer screen time among participants recruited during school closures than those recruited before the COVID-19 outbreak. Primary school students were found to sleep on average for an extra hour during school closures. Our findings illustrate the impact of social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic on the sleep pattern, screen time, and PA level in school-aged children in Hong Kong. Professionals should reinforce the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle, good sleep hygiene, and healthy use of electronic devices to parents and school-aged children during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic; school closures; school-aged children; physical activity; screen time; sleep; Hong Kong

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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