Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40841682›Full record

ArticleArchives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique2025

Changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours of children living in Italy due to the COVID-19 pandemic: the EPaS-ISS study.

Paola Nardone, Serena Broccoli, Angela Spinelli, Marta Buoncristiano, Silvia Andreozzi, Mauro Bucciarelli, Marco Giustini, Silvia Ciardullo, EPaS-ISS Group

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In one paragraph

Article in Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Paola NardoneNational Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Italian National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy.
Serena BroccoliDepartment of Prevention and Public Health, General Directorate of Health and Welfare, Emilia-Romagna Region, Bologna, 40127, Italy.
Angela SpinelliFormer National Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Italian National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy.
Marta Buoncristiano"OKkio alla SALUTE" Technical Committee, Rome, Italy.
Silvia AndreozziNational Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Italian National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy.
Mauro BucciarelliNational Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Italian National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy.
Marco GiustiniEnvironment and Health Department, Italian National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy.
Silvia CiardulloNational Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Italian National Institute of Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy. silvia.ciardullo@iss.it.
EPaS-ISS Group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMost governments worldwide introduced containment measures to protect people from the risk of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection which also affected children. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting confinement at home may have affected physical health and mental well-being especially among vulnerable young people, widening health disparities. Therefore, the aim of the EPaSS-ISS study was to study the changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours among 8-9 years old Italian students during the pandemic of COVID-19 compared with before the pandemic.

methodsData were collected using a web questionnaire. The target population was parents of children attending third-grade primary schools and living in Italy. A cluster sample design was used. Logistic regression models were used to explore changes between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in children's studying hours, active play and screen time. The possible effects of gender, geographical area of residence, parents' nationality and educational level, family structure, family-perceived wealth, availability of home outdoor spaces and house size were investigated. A stratification by sociodemographic characteristics of children and parents was also included in the analysis.

results4863 children were included: 47.9% were females, the average age was 8 years and 9 months (SD ± 5 months). The parents reported that 44.3% of their children increased the time spent studying at home, 52.7% the screen time for non-educational purposes on weekdays, and 47.3% at weekends; 44% of the children decreased their time spent playing actively outside school hours on weekdays and 39.3% at weekends. A larger increase of sedentary lifestyle was found among children with at least one parent with a medium (OR:2.57; 95%CI:1.78-3.72) or high educational level (OR:3.32, 95%CI:2.29-4.82), with low family-perceived wealth (OR:1.21; 95%CI:1.03-1.41), with both Italian parents (OR:1.44; 95%CI:1.10-1.90), resident in Centre (OR:1.25; 95%CI:1.04-1.50) or South (OR:1.26; 95%CI:1.05-1.51) Italy. No outdoor spaces (OR:2.14; 95%CI:1.82-2.51) and home size < = 90m2 (OR:1.41; 95%CI:1.05-1.68) had also a negative effect on children's behaviours.

conclusionsIn Italy physical activity decreased and sedentary behaviours increased among 8-9 years old children during the COVID 19 pandemic.

Indexed as

ChildrenCOVID-19 pandemicPhysical activityScreen-time activitiesSedentary behaviours

Identifiers

PMID40841682
PMCPMC12372367

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.