SARS COVID-19 pandemic resulted in major changes to how daily life was conducted. Health officials instituted policies to decelerate the spread of the virus, resulting in changes in physical activity patterns of school-aged children. The aim of this study was to utilize a wearable activity monitor to assess ambulatory activity in elementary-school aged children in their home environment during a COVID-19 Stay-at-Home mandate. This institutional review board approved research study was performed between April 3rd – May 1st of 2020 during which health officials issued several stay-at-home (shelter-in-place) orders. Participant recruitment was conducted using a convenience sample of 38 typically developing children. Participants wore a StepWatch Activity Monitor for one week and data were downloaded and analyzed to assess global ambulatory activity measures along with ambulatory bout intensity/duration. For comparison purposes, SAM data collected before the pandemic, of a group of 27 age-matched children from the same region of the United States, was included. Statistical analyses were performed comparing SAM variables between children abiding by a stay-at-home mandate (Stay-at-Home) versus the Historical cohort (alpha=0.05). Stay-at-Home cohort took on average 3737 fewer daily total steps compared to the Historical cohort (p<0.001). Daily Total Ambulatory Time (TAT), across all days was significantly lower in the Stay-at-Home cohort compared to the Historical cohort (mean difference: 81.9 minutes, p=0.001). The Stay-at-Home cohort spent a significantly higher percentage of TAT in Easy intensity ambulatory activity (mean difference: 2%, p<0.001) and therefore a significantly lower percentage of TAT in Moderate+ intensity (mean difference: 2%, p<0.001). The stay-at-home mandates resulted in lower PA levels in elementary school-aged children, beyond global measures to also bout intensity/duration. It appears that in-person school is a major contributor to achieving higher levels of PA and our study provides additional data for policymakers to consider for future decisions.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 居家令会影响小学生的日常活动强度和持续时间：基于可穿戴传感器的分析

SARS COVID-19 大流行导致日常生活方式发生重大变化。卫生官员制定了减缓病毒传播的政策，导致学龄儿童的身体活动模式发生变化。本研究的目的是利用可穿戴活动监测器来评估小学生在 COVID-19 居家令期间在家庭环境中的走动活动。这项机构审查委员会批准的研究是在 2020 年 4 月 3 日至 5 月 1 日期间进行的，在此期间卫生官员发布了多项居家令。参与者招募是使用 38 名正常发育儿童的方便样本进行的。参与者佩戴 StepWatch 活动监视器一周，下载并分析数据，以评估整体动态活动测量以及动态发作强度/持续时间。出于比较目的，我们纳入了大流行前收集的来自美国同一地区的 27 名年龄匹配儿童的 SAM 数据。对遵守居家令 (Stay-at-Home) 的儿童与历史队列 (alpha=0.05) 的儿童之间的 SAM 变量进行了统计分析。与历史队列相比，居家队列每日总步数平均减少 3737 步 (p<0.001)。与历史队列相比，居家队列中所有天的每日总走动时间 (TAT) 显着缩短（平均差：81.9 分钟，p=0.001）。待在家里的人群在简单强度的走动活动中花费的 TAT 百分比显着较高（平均差异：2%，p<0.001），因此在中等+ 强度的 TAT 百分比显着较低（平均差异：2%，p< 0.001）。居家令导致小学生的 PA 水平较低，超出了强度/持续时间的全球衡量标准。看来，面授学校是实现更高水平 PA 的主要因素，我们的研究为政策制定者在未来决策时考虑提供了额外的数据。