Decline in youth physical fitness seen in association with pandemic

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a decline in the physical fitness of U.S. youth, according to a study published online June 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Andjelka Pavlovic, Ph.D., from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Dallas, and colleagues conducted a longitudinal cohort study involving U.S. schools reporting cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and musculoskeletal fitness (MSF) among students at least once during the pandemic (fall 2020 to fall 2021) and at least once before or after. The association between in-person versus remote or hybrid environments and fitness was examined in a subset of schools.

The sample included 264 schools across 21 states and 152,094 students. The researchers found that students were significantly less likely to achieve CRF healthy fitness zone (HFZ) and MSF HFZ during the pandemic compared with the prepandemic and postpandemic periods (odds ratios, 0.72 and 0.82, respectively).

During the pandemic, the adjusted CRF was 0.55 and 0.86 mL/kg/min lower in girls and boys, respectively. In the subset of 116 schools, the likelihood of achieving the CRF HFZ was significantly higher for those in remote or hybrid environments for 15 to 22 weeks versus shorter periods of time.

“Should other catastrophic world events (e.g., pandemics or wars) occur in the future, health care practitioners, teachers, and parents should have a plan in place aimed at maintaining the physical fitness of youths, thus likely resulting in preserved mental and physical health as well as academic learning,” the authors write.

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