We suspected it, it is now certain: during the first confinement (from March 17 to May 11, 2020), the French did not move enough. It is a survey by Public Health France that says it: carried out from May 4 to 6, 2020 among 2000 adults, it affirms that 47% of respondents (50% of men and 45% of women) have reduced their physical activity, and 37% their sports activity.
During the spring confinement, the recommendations of the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses) were to practice physical activity (at least) 30 minutes a day, in a split way, and especially to interrupt the periods of “sitting time” every 30 minutes at least.
Anxiety, depression and sleep disorders, sedentary factors
But according to the Public Health France survey, “in the event of prolonged sitting, more than half of respondents (55.3%) said they did not get up several times per hour“. In addition, 55% of men and 62% of women reported walking less than usual during this period of confinement.
Obviously, several factors explain this increase in sedentary lifestyle. Among women, for example, if Santé Publique France did not note an increase in sports activity during confinement, there was indeed an increase in domestic activities: it is not easy to move when the mental load weighs heavily on shoulders…
In addition, on the mental health side, it is anxiety (in men), sleep disorders and depressive disorders (in women) that have contributed to the decline in physical activity. A sad correlation, because here too, Science is formal: physical activity contributes to well-being and mental health.
Source : Weekly epidemiological bulletin – CoviPrev 2020.
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