Prevalence and Determinants of Changes in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Swedish Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

Birgitta Kerstis (), Maria Elvén, Kent W. Nilsson, Petra von Heideken Wågert, Jonas Stier, Micael Dahlen and Daniel Lindberg
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Birgitta Kerstis: Division of Caring Sciences, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72123 Västerås, Sweden
Maria Elvén: Division of Physiotherapy, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72123 Västerås, Sweden
Kent W. Nilsson: Division of Public Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72123 Västerås, Sweden
Petra von Heideken Wågert: Division of Physiotherapy, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72123 Västerås, Sweden
Jonas Stier: Division of Social Work, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72123 Västerås, Sweden
Micael Dahlen: Department of Marketing and Strategy, Stockholm School of Economics, 11383 Stockholm, Sweden
Daniel Lindberg: Department of Social Work, School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, Division of Social Work, Örebro University, 70182 Örebro, Sweden

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 8, 1-12

Abstract: Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) changed during the COVID-19 pandemic; hence, this study examined PA and SB at four time points between December 2019 and December 2022. The participants’ PA decreased during the pandemic and did not recover afterwards. Among women, PA increased slightly in 2022 but not at all in men. From 2019 to 2020, SB increased and then decreased to near the pre-pandemic level in both sexes. Regarding age, PA decreased in the oldest age group (65–79 years) across all time points, while SB increased in all age groups during 2019–2020 and then returned close to pre-pandemic levels among the two middle age groups (30–64 years), but not among the youngest and oldest groups. Considering occupation, PA decreased from 2020 to December 2022 among retired and “other” participants, while SB decreased among nonmanual workers and retired participants. The regression models associated better self-reported health, male sex, and those born overseas with higher PA. Higher age, better self-reported health, poor education, and later survey time points were associated with lower SB. These findings highlight the need to return PA and SB to at least pre-pandemic levels and that subgroups may need different interventions.

Keywords: physical activity; sedentary behavior; COVID-19; changes; global crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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