Second Lockdown: Children Much Less Active

German Long-Term Study
06/05/2021 16:52

On average, children and adolescents spent 75 minutes a day exercising during the second pandemic-related lockdown since December 2020, which was significantly lower than the values from the spring of last year when all sports clubs and recreational facilities had to close for the first time due to the Corona pandemic.

 

These are the results of the current evaluation of a long-term study by scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, for which children and young people between the ages of four and 17 were surveyed.

 

Various reasons are cited by the scientists for this. On the one hand children moved less during Germany’s second lockdown, as it was winter, and on the other hand children had more free time during the first lockdown, as school was cancelled while schools adapted during the summer and children now are spending more time attending online classes. The researcher also suspects that frustration about the overall situation has increased among the children and young people and that they are therefore less motivated to exercise.

 

Professor Alexander Woll, Head of the Institute for Sport and Sport Science at KIT, emphasises: "The results of the study are very worrying, because exercise not only promotes fitness, but also one's own well-being and ultimately one's defences – which is all the more important in times of a pandemic." The scientist urgently recommends finding long-term solutions to promote exercise among children and young people even in situations like a pandemic.

 

Read the full article here. (German)