Page 97 - IJPS-10-3

International Journal of

Population Studies

REPORT
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 24-hour

movement behaviors among preschoolers from
Brazil

Anastácio Neco de Souza Filho 1,2† *, Thaynã Alves Bezerra 1,2† ,
Alesandra Araújo de Souza , Cleene Tavares de Souza , Laís Vitória Pinto Barros ,
3
4
1
Rafael Miranda Tassitano , and Clarice Maria de Lucena Martins 4,6
5
1 Department of Physical Education, Regional University of Cariri, Crato, Ceará, Brazil
2 Department of Medicine, Paraíso Faculty, Araripina, Pernambuco, Brazil
3 Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Tocantins, Tocantinopolis, Tocantins, Brazil
4 Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
5 Department of Health and Kinesiology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, United States of
America
6 Research Centre of Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of
Porto, Porto, Portugal

Abstract

† These authors contributed equally Healthy habits during early childhood are essential for a healthy adolescence and
to this work. adulthood. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of children who met the 24-h
*Corresponding author: movement behavior (physical activity [PA], sedentary behavior, and sleep) guidelines
Anastácio Neco de Souza Filho was low worldwide. Despite a lack of evidence, the restriction measures imposed
(anastaciosouzafilho@gmail.com) during the COVID-19 pandemic are claimed to have further reduced the number,
Citation: de Souza Filho, A.N., especially among preschoolers. Thus, this study was designed to compare the time
Bezerra, T.A., de Souza, A.A., spent on movement behaviors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in low-
de Souza, C.T., Barros, L.V.P., income preschoolers from the Northeast Region of Brazil. Forty mothers provided
Tassitano, R.M., et al., (2024).
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic data on their preschoolers’ sleep, sedentary behavior, and outdoor and indoor PA.
on 24-hour movement behaviors To compare indoor and outdoor PA, sleep duration, and sedentary time during the
among preschoolers from Brazil. weekdays and weekends, before and during the pandemic, generalized estimation
International Journal of Population
Studies, 10(3): 91-98. equations were used. During the weekdays, a significant increase in sleep duration
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0975 (553.7 vs. 627.0; p < 0.01) and sedentary times (225.0 vs. 409.5; p < 0.01) were observed.
Received: May 22, 2023 Further, an increase in the sedentary time during the weekend (319.5 vs. 406.5; p <
0.01) and the total time between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods (249.0 vs.
Accepted: November 28, 2023
409.5; p < 0.01) was observed. Our findings also unveiled that preschoolers were seven
Published Online: April 4, 2024 times more likely to be active outdoors for an hour or more before than during the
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). pandemic (OR = 6.55; 95% CI = 2.07 – 20.73). In summary, the pandemic has altered
This is an Open-Access article preschoolers’ routines, leading to changes in their health behaviors over time.
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, Keywords: Preschool child; Sleep; Sedentary behavior; Physical activity
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is widely recognized as a contagious
affiliations. disease outbreak of enormous magnitude unprecedented in the preceding decades

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 91 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0975