Parents’ perceptions of their children’s physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors

Emma Ostermeier, Human Environment Analysis Laboratory, Department of Geography and Environment, The University of Western Ontario
Patricia Tucker, Human Environment Analysis Laboratory, Department of Geography and Environment, The University of Western Ontario
Danielle Tobin, Human Environment Analysis Laboratory, Department of Geography and Environment, The University of Western Ontario
Andrew Clark, Human Environment Analysis Laboratory, Department of Geography and Environment, The University of Western Ontario
Jason Gilliland, Human Environment Analysis Laboratory, Department of Geography and Environment, The University of Western Ontario

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Summer 8-1-2022

Volume

22

Issue

Article number: 1459

Journal

BMC Public Health

URL with Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13829-y

Abstract

Background

COVID-19 has drastically changed the everyday lives of children, including limiting interactions with peers, loss of regularly organized activities, and closure of schools and recreational facilities. While COVID-19 protocols are in place to reduce viral transmission, they have affected children’s access to physical activity opportunities. The purpose of this study was to understand how COVID-19 has affected children’s engagement in physical activity and to identify strategies that can support children’s return to physical activity programming in public places.

Methods

Parents of past participants in the Grade 5 ACT-i-Pass Program in London, Ontario, Canada were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview online (in November and December 2020) via Microsoft Teams. The script was comprised of questions about their child’s physical activity levels (before, current, and anticipated following COVID-19), lifestyle changes due to COVID-19, and what service providers can do to assist children’s return to public programming. Interviews were transcribed in Microsoft Teams, reviewed by a member of the research team, and analyzed in NVivo 12 using thematic analysis.

Results

Twenty-seven parents participated in an interview. Four themes and two subthemes were identified during analysis: (1) modifications to everyday life (a. activity options available and b. altered social environment), (2) safety in public spaces, (3) accessibility of activities, and (4) utilizing outdoor spaces.

Conclusions

COVID-19 protocols have decreased children’s physical activity levels due to the loss of their regular activities, recreational spaces, and peer support. Implementing facility and activity-specific health protocols, providing outdoor activity options, and offering a variety of activity types, times, and locations are three strategies recommended by parents to help facilitate their children’s return to public recreational places. Due to the negative consequences of physical inactivity on children’s health and well-being, service providers need to implement programming and safety protocols that support children’s engagement in physical activity throughout the remainder of, and the years following, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.