Physical activity and sedentary behavior in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Resumen

The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the study routine and physical activity of Physical Education students. The study included, by convenience sampling, 721 undergraduate Physical Education students from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. For data collection, a questionnaire containing questions about sample characterization, study routine and characteristics of physical activity before and during social distancing/isolation was used. This instrument was made available by Google Forms, between April 13^th and May 31^st of 2020. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that 35% of the students had their studies completely interrupted and 27.9% of them reported an increase in their load of study routine activities. The time spent on television went from one to two hours a day (47.7%) to up to four hours (63.7%), with women having greater screen time for television (> 3h / day; p = 0.027) during the pandemic period. There was an increase from 3.1% to 18.7% of students who were not practicing any physical activity. Those who remained active decreased the number of days of weekly practice and the average time per session (p < 0.001). Thus, it is necessary to think about strategies to increase and maintain the levels of physical activity, as means of protection and reduction of health damages, caused by the infection of the new coronavirus and by the social distancing/isolation imposed to reduce the transmission of the virus.