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Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 42135

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Prof. Dr. Michał Bronikowski

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Guest Editor

Department of Didactics of Physical Activity, Poznan University of Physical Education, Królowej Jadwigi 27/39, 61-871 Poznań, Poland
Interests: sport pedagogy; physical education; sport practice; teaching-learning experience; teaching materials; critical thinking; values; lifelong learning; early childhood education; pedagogics physical fitness; physical activity and modern technology

Prof. Dr. Marcela González-Gross

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Guest Editor

Department of Health and Human Performance, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Interests: vitamins; energy balance; physical activity; fitness; lifestyle; hydration; biomarkers; dietary patterns; research methodologies
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a strong social and academic need to recognize the importance and both the global as well as local consequences of the recent pandemic in terms of physical activity, school physical education, and sport practice, all of which are a great concern for long-term public health. There is a growing body of evidence and literature that exercise is one of the very prospective health-related beneficial factors contributing to the inhibition of epidemic and pathogenic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, aging, cardiovascular disease, and all sorts of mind-related issues and problems in school youth around the world.

This Special Issue seeks original papers on the results of the compulsory quarantine caused by the pandemic and the ways it has influenced physical activity patterns of young people. Novel findings of research studies dealing with the pandemic situation are also welcomed. The idea of the Special Issue is to serve as a platform for solutions and examples of best practice that could help to form some recommendations concerning physical activity levels in difficult times or circumstances and attribute to the development of more advanced and personalized health-related patterns of education that would optimize the prevention of non-communicable diseases and lead to individually healthier lifestyles along the lifespan.

Prof. Dr. Michał Bronikowski
Prof. Dr. Marcela González-Gross
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Sport pedagogy
Physical activity
Physical education
Psychology
Health-related fitness
Obesity
Cardiovascular disease
Modern technology
Sport practice

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2427 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High School Physical Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Blended Learning One Year after the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Iván López-Fernández, Rafael Burgueño and Francisco Javier Gil-Espinosa

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11146; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111146 - 24 Oct 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6603

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the educational landscape worldwide. One year after the disease outbreak, blended learning, which combines distance and face-to-face learning, became an alternative to fully online learning to address the demands of ensuring students’ health and education. Physical education teachers faced an additional challenge, given the experiential nature of their subject, but research on teachers’ perspectives is scarce. This study aims to explore high school physical education teachers’ perceptions of the potential, advantages, and disadvantages of the blended learning model of instruction. An online survey was used to register the views of 174 Spanish high school physical education teachers (120 men and 54 women). The main findings revealed that physical education teachers considered that blended learning, compared with full face-to-face learning, implied a work overload, worsened social relationships, and did not help to increase students’ motivation. Likewise, most teachers considered the physical activity performed by students during the blended learning period as being lower than usual. Furthermore, teachers reported that the students from lower-income families were the ones that experienced a lack of technological means the most. These results may guide both present and future policies and procedures for blended physical education. More research is needed to analyze the usefulness of blended learning in high school physical education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice)

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13 pages, 1472 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of a Sports Activity Development Model Using Artificial Intelligence under New Curriculum Reform

by Taofeng Liu, Dominika Wilczyńska, Mariusz Lipowski and Zijian Zhao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(17), 9049; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179049 - 27 Aug 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2915

Abstract

The recent curriculum reform in China puts forward higher requirements for the development of physical education. In order to further improve students’ physical quality and motor skills, the traditional model was improved to address the lack of accuracy in motion recognition and detection of physical condition so as to assist teachers to improve students’ physical quality. First, the physical education teaching activities required by the new curriculum reform were studied with regard to the actual needs of China’s current social, political, and economic development; next, the application of artificial intelligence technology to physical education teaching activities was proposed; and finally, deep learning technology was studied and a human movement recognition model based on a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network was established to identify the movement state of students in physical education teaching activities. The designed model includes three components: data acquisition, data calculation, and data visualization. The functions of each layer were introduced; then, the intelligent wearable system was adopted to detect the status of students and a feedback system was established to assist teaching; and finally, the dataset was constructed to train and test the designed model. The experimental results demonstrate that the recognition accuracy and loss value of the training model meet the practical requirements; in the algorithm test, the motion recognition accuracy of the designed model for different subjects was greater than 97.5%. Compared with the traditional human motion recognition algorithm, the designed model had a better recognition effect. Hence, the designed model can meet the actual needs of physical education. This exploration provides a new perspective for promoting the intelligent development of physical education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice)

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12 pages, 675 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Online Training during the COVID-19 Quarantine on the Aerobic Capacity of Youth Soccer Players

by Paweł Kalinowski, Jakub Myszkowski and Jakub Marynowicz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(12), 6195; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126195 - 8 Jun 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3312

Abstract

Motor abilities, such as endurance and the optimal level of physical activity, play a fundamental role in football as they are necessary to maintain the high effectiveness of the training process. The aim of this study was the observation of the trend of changes in the level of cardiorespiratory endurance of young football players in a one-year cycle overlapping with the COVID-19 lockdown and an assessment of the impact of the training intervention during home confinement. The participants of the study were 24 young football players. We analysed the results of the study in a one-year training cycle (lockdown from 11 March 2020 to 6 May 2020). The cardiorespiratory endurance was measured using the Multistage 20 m Shuttle Run test—Beep Test. A repeated measures analysis of variance was used in the study. Detailed comparisons were made using Tukey’s HSD test. Statistically significant differences were noted in endurance in a one year cycle: F(5.115) = 22.65; p < 0.001; partial Eta-squared = 0.50. An increase in the level of endurance by mean = 179.17 m, SD ± 189.87 m was noted between T1 and T6. After the break caused by the COVID-19 restrictions, a decrease in the level of cardiorespiratory endurance was noted. Only after two training mesocycles was a significant increase in the mean value noted compared to the period before the pandemic (p < 0.05). With the negative impact of restrictions in mind, coaches and physiotherapists should exercise caution when planning training, taking into consideration the level of physical activity during the pandemic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice)

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13 pages, 692 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Physical Activity Levels in Youths before and during a Pandemic Lockdown

by Małgorzata Bronikowska, Jana Krzysztoszek, Marlena Łopatka, Mateusz Ludwiczak and Beata Pluta

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(10), 5139; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105139 - 12 May 2021

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 5849

Abstract

This study aimed to compare physical activity (PA) levels before and during a pandemic lockdown among adolescent Polish youths in relation to meeting the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and identify potential environmental factors that may affect these levels. An online survey tool that included validated measures of adolescents’ MVPA and socio-environmental, potential confounders was administered to youths (e.g., lack of classmates, motivation, possibility of choosing any physical exercise time, possibility of choosing your own exercises, home environment). The analytic sample comprised 127 adolescents aged 15.4 ± 0.5 years on average (52% girls and 48% boys). The results highlight that among adolescents who did not meet the WHO MVPA recommendations before the lockdown, 13.4% had an increased frequency of PA (from 2.9 to 5.4 day/week) (p = 0.01) during the lockdown. In the group who did meet these recommendations before the lockdown, 50% significantly decreased their level of MVPA below the WHO’s recommendations (p = 0.01). Self-rated health for PA showed a significantly strong correlation with MVPA in the group of students who met the WHO recommendations before the pandemic (r = 0.76; p < 0.05) but failed to maintain that recommendation during the COVID-19 restriction. The results suggest a negative impact of the pandemic on PA undertaken by youths. Based on these results we see the need for increased action by both Physical Education (PE) teachers and parents to motivate and support youngsters in taking up systematic PA consciously. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice)

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12 pages, 684 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physical Activity Recommendations in the Context of New Calls for Change in Physical Education

by Karel Frömel, Jana Vašíčková, Krzysztof Skalik, Zbyněk Svozil, Dorota Groffik and Josef Mitáš

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(3), 1177; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031177 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2625

Abstract

The current social, health, and educational changes in society require an adequate response in school-based physical activity (PA), including physical education (PE) lessons. The objective of this study was to identify the real average step counts of Czech and Polish adolescents during PE lessons, and propose recommendations for improving PE programs. This research was carried out in 143 Czech and 99 Polish schools. In the research, a total of 4911 adolescents aged 12–18 years were analyzed as part of teaching practice and 1827 in the context of habitual school practice. Steps were monitored using pedometers. The average step count per PE lesson was 2390 in Czech and Polish boys, while girls achieved 1851 steps. In both countries, boys were subject to greater physical strain in PE lessons compared to girls, both in teaching practice (F(4088,3) = 154.49, p < 0.001, η_p² = 0.102) and school practice (F(1552,3) = 70.66, p < 0.001, η_p² = 0.103). Therefore, the priority in PE lessons is to increase the amount of PA for girls, achieve the objectives of PE during PA, and use wearables to improve awareness of PA and improve physical literacy, as well as to support hybrid and online PE as a complement to traditional PE. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice)

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14 pages, 378 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Spanish University Students: Role of Gender

by Ana Rodríguez-Larrad, Asier Mañas, Idoia Labayen, Marcela González-Gross, Ander Espin, Susana Aznar, José Antonio Serrano-Sánchez, Francisco J. Vera-Garcia, Domingo González-Lamuño, Ignacio Ara, Luis Carrasco-Páez, José Castro-Piñero, Mari Carmen Gómez-Cabrera, Sara Márquez, Josep A. Tur, Narcis Gusi, Pedro J. Benito, Diego Moliner-Urdiales, Jonatan R. Ruiz, Francisco B. Ortega, David Jiménez-Pavón, José Antonio Casajús and Jon Irazusta Show full author list Hide full author list

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(2), 369; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020369 - 6 Jan 2021

Cited by 99 | Viewed by 12061

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, entire populations were instructed to live in home-confinement to prevent the expansion of the disease. Spain was one of the countries with the strictest conditions, as outdoor physical activity was banned for nearly two months. This study aimed to analyse the changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours in Spanish university students before and during the confinement by COVID-19 with special focus on gender. We also analysed enjoyment, the tools used and motivation and impediments for doing physical activity. An online questionnaire, which included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form and certain “ad hoc” questions, was designed. Students were recruited by distributing an invitation through the administrative channels of 16 universities and a total of 13,754 valid surveys were collected. Overall, university students reduced moderate (−29.5%) and vigorous (−18.3%) physical activity during the confinement and increased sedentary time (+52.7%). However, they spent more time on high intensity interval training (HIIT) (+18.2%) and mind-body activities (e.g., yoga) (+80.0%). Adaptation to the confinement, in terms of physical activity, was handled better by women than by men. These results will help design strategies for each gender to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour during confinement periods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice)

15 pages, 1198 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Promoting Physical Activity during School Closures Imposed by the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Physical Education Teachers’ Behaviors in France, Italy and Turkey

by Erica Gobbi, Silvio Maltagliati, Philippe Sarrazin, Selenia di Fronso, Alessandra Colangelo, Boris Cheval, Géraldine Escriva-Boulley, Damien Tessier, Giyasettin Demirhan, Gokce Erturan, Yilmaz Yüksel, Athanasios Papaioannou, Maurizio Bertollo and Attilio Carraro

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(24), 9431; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249431 - 16 Dec 2020

Cited by 39 | Viewed by 6526

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced physical activity (PA) behaviors of many people. Physical education (PE) is considered one of the privileged instruments to promote youths’ PA. We aimed to investigate the effects of lockdown on PE teachers’ behaviors promoting their students’ out-of-school PA and differences between three European countries. A sample of 1146 PE teachers (59.5% females) from France, Italy, and Turkey answered an online questionnaire about guiding students to engage in out-of-school PA, helping them to set PA goals, encouraging in self-monitoring PA, the pedagogical formats of these behaviors and feedback asked to students. RM-MANCOVAs were performed with a two-time (before and during the lockdown), three country (France, Italy, Turkey), two gender factorial design, using teaching years and perceived health as covariates. A significant multivariate main effect time × country × gender (p < 0.001) was reported for the behaviors promoting students’ PA, with French and Italian teachers increasing some behaviors, while Turkish teachers showing opposite trends. Significant multivariate main effects time × country were found for formats supporting the behaviors (p < 0.001) and for asked feedback formats (p < 0.001). The massive contextual change imposed by lockdown caused different reactions in teachers from the three countries. Findings are informative for PA promotion and PE teachers’ education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive and Negative Consequences of Pandemic Lockdown time on Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Practice)

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