Found study It is new in the United States that physical activity decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic without returning to its normal level after the epidemic, especially among young people.
The study found that Americans were less mobile during the pandemic by walking fewer steps without regaining their usual pre-pandemic activity.
According to the network,CNNNewsletter, the study of 5,500 people in the United States used data from the National Institutes of Health’s “All of Us Research” program, which focuses on identifying ways to improve individualized health care.
Participants in the program wore activity trackers for at least 10 hours a day over several years and allowed the researchers access to their electronic health records.
“On average, people are taking about 600 fewer steps per day than they did before the pandemic began,” said study author Evan Brittain, an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
“It appears that COVID-19 has had a lasting impact on people’s behavioral choices when it comes to activity,” he said.
In the study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open, researchers compared the steps of nearly 5,500 people who wore the program’s activity trackers before and after the pandemic.
The study monitored the steps from January 1, 2018 to January 31, 2020 as the pre-pandemic stage, compared to the next stage, which lasted from February 2020 until the end of 2021.
The study said that people who took fewer steps were socially and economically disadvantaged, suffered from psychological stress, and were not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Brittain said that young people between the ages of 18 and 30 are most affected by the decline in the number of their steps, adding: “We found that every age that decreased for 10 years, the steps decreased by 243 steps per day.”
“If this continues over time, it could certainly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions associated with inactivity,” he added.
However, it is too early to tell if this trend will continue, Brittain said.
