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

Department of Health Sciences, Institute for Innovation & Sustainable Development in Food Chain (IS-FOOD), Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdisNA), Public University of Navarra, Campus de Arrosadía, 31006 Pamplona, Spain

⁵

Department of Health and Human Performance, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

⁶

PAFS Research Group, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 45071 Toledo, Spain

⁷

Department of Physical Education, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

⁸

Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), 35016 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

⁹

Sports Research Centre, Department of Sport Sciences, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, 03202 Elche, Spain

¹⁰

Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain

¹¹

Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Seville, 41013 Sevilla, Spain

¹²

GALENO Research Group, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cadiz, 11519 Puerto Real, Spain

¹³

Biomedical Research and Innovation Institute of Cadiz (INiBICA) Research Unit, 11009 Cádiz, Spain

¹⁴

Freshage Research Group, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain

¹⁵

CIBERFES, Fundación Investigación Hospital Clínico Universitario/INCLIVA, 46010 Valencia, Spain

¹⁶

Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED), University of León, 24071 León, Spain

¹⁷

Research Group on Community Nutrition and Oxidative Stress, Fundamental Biology and Health Sciences, University of the Balearic Islands, IDISBA & CIBEROBN, 07122 Palma, Spain

¹⁸

Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain

¹⁹

LIFE Research Group, Department of Education and Specific Didactics, University Jaume I, 12071 Castelló de la Plana, Spain

²⁰

PROFITH “PROmoting FITness and Health through Physical Activity” Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

²¹

MOVE-IT Research Group, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cádiz, 11519 Puerto Real, Spain

²²

Department of Physiatry and Nursing, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain

Show full affiliation list

Hide full affiliation list

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

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

Received: 1 December 2020 / Revised: 31 December 2020 / Accepted: 2 January 2021 / Published: 6 January 2021

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

View Full-Text Download PDF Citation Export

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. View Full-Text

Keywords: pandemic; international physical activity questionnaire; physical exercise; lockdown

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

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Rodríguez-Larrad, A.; Mañas, A.; Labayen, I.; González-Gross, M.; Espin, A.; Aznar, S.; Serrano-Sánchez, J.A.; Vera-Garcia, F.J.; González-Lamuño, D.; Ara, I.; Carrasco-Páez, L.; Castro-Piñero, J.; Gómez-Cabrera, M.C.; Márquez, S.; Tur, J.A.; Gusi, N.; Benito, P.J.; Moliner-Urdiales, D.; Ruiz, J.R.; Ortega, F.B.; Jiménez-Pavón, D.; Casajús, J.A.; Irazusta, J. Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Spanish University Students: Role of Gender. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020369

AMA Style

Rodríguez-Larrad A, Mañas A, Labayen I, González-Gross M, Espin A, Aznar S, Serrano-Sánchez JA, Vera-Garcia FJ, González-Lamuño D, Ara I, Carrasco-Páez L, Castro-Piñero J, Gómez-Cabrera MC, Márquez S, Tur JA, Gusi N, Benito PJ, Moliner-Urdiales D, Ruiz JR, Ortega FB, Jiménez-Pavón D, Casajús JA, Irazusta J. Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Spanish University Students: Role of Gender. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(2):369. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020369

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rodríguez-Larrad, Ana, Asier Mañas, Idoia Labayen, Marcela González-Gross, Ander Espin, Susana Aznar, José A. Serrano-Sánchez, Francisco J. Vera-Garcia, Domingo González-Lamuño, Ignacio Ara, Luis Carrasco-Páez, José Castro-Piñero, Mari C. 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 A. Casajús, and Jon Irazusta. 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Spanish University Students: Role of Gender" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 2: 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020369

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

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

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI