Sajad Bagherian; Simin Nafian; Julien S Baker
Abstract
Physical activity is a broad term that encompasses all human motion at home, school, the workplace, and the community. As indicated in the Bangkok Declaration of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH), physical activity benefits both individuals and society, contributing to ...
Read More
Physical activity is a broad term that encompasses all human motion at home, school, the workplace, and the community. As indicated in the Bangkok Declaration of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH), physical activity benefits both individuals and society, contributing to many of the United Nations sustainable developmental goals. Physical activity is associated with positive health outcomes in children and adolescents, whereas excessive time spent on sedentary activities is related to negative health outcomes. Concerns about diminishing levels of physical activity and their impact on health outcomes have driven various national and international regulatory bodies to create guidelines with recommendations for policymakers, practitioners, and individuals over the last three decades. Therefore, the World Health Assembly has established two goals: a 10% decrease in worldwide physical inactivity by 2025; and a 15% decrease by 2030. Due to the health advantages of regular physical activity, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that individuals aged 5–17 years engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity every day throughout the week. In addition, vigorous-intensity activities, including aerobic and activities that strengthen bones and muscles, should be performed at least three days a week.
Epidemiology
Sajad Bagherian; Majid Mardaniyan Ghahfarrokhi; Ebrahim Banitalebi
Abstract
Background and aims: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), immediate self-quarantine is assumed as the best course of action for highly contagious diseases. Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many individuals have become overweight and are also suffering from physical ...
Read More
Background and aims: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), immediate self-quarantine is assumed as the best course of action for highly contagious diseases. Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many individuals have become overweight and are also suffering from physical problems. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on interest in home-based exercise. Methods: This digital epidemiological study used data sources outside the health system. This descriptive study with a comprehensive electronic systematic search in the Google Trends database using the keyword of “home-based exercise” retrieved the relevant data about the Internet search activity of Iranian community members. The data were accordingly obtained within two time intervals, i.e., from February 18, 2020 to October 18, 2020 and eight months prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 (June 18, 2019 to February 18, 2020). To analyze the data, the Wilcoxon test and the Spearman’s correlation coefficient were used. Results: The results showed significant increase in “home-based exercise” Google search in the eight-month time interval during COVID-19 compared with the same period before the pandemic (P < 0.001). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between “home-based exercise” Google search and positive COVID-19 cases in the time intervals of February 18, 2020 to April 18, 2020 (r = 0.756, P = 0.0001), April 18, 2020 to June 18, 2020 (r = -461, P = 0.0001), but not June 18, 2020 to August 18, 2020 (r = 0.044, P = 0.737), August 18, 2020 to October 18, 2020 (r = 0.246, P = 0.056), and over time (r = -0.083, P = 0.0195). Conclusion: The prevalence rate of the COVID-19 pandemic and social constraints including self-quarantine seem to have raised people’s interest in doing exercises, especially home-based exercises.