The Impact of a Global Pandemic on Young Adult Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity

IntroductionThe novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease detected in 2019 widely affected individuals' social movements, likely disrupting the ability to participate in leisure-related physical activity (PA). Because of this participation in sedentary behavior (SB) is thought to have increased. The purpose of this study was to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected United States (US) young adult PA and SB.MethodsA total of 333 US young adults (aged between 18-30 years of age) completed an online, comprehensive questionnaire during the early parts of COVID-19. Wilcoxon-Signed Rank Tests were used to determine the change in time spent in PA and SB during COVID-19 compared to before COVID-19.ResultsThere was a significant decrease in PA minutes (p<0.0001) and a significant increase in SB (p<0.005) during COVID-19 compared to before COVID-19. Significant differences were found by stratifying the data by sex and relationship status. While both males and females reduced their PA, only males significantly increased their time in SB during COVID-19 compared to before COVID-19 (p<0.05). Further, married young adults significantly reduced their PA during COVID-19 (p<0.001), while single individuals did not. Single young adults saw significant increases in SB during COVID-19 (p<0.005), whereas married individuals did not exhibit any change in SB.ConclusionsStay-at-home orders enforced in the US during the summer of 2020 led to increases in SB and decreases in PA, particularly among males and single young adults. Future studies should determine if these behavior changes persist.