Brent Eastwood: How the pandemic has affected our physical activity habits

Our active lifestyles have taken a blow throughout the pandemic and it's a slow return to our pre-Covid physical activity levels. Photo / Getty Images

Sport NZ has published a study into the impact of Covid-19 which shows the pandemic has severely affected participation in physical activity across Aotearoa NZ.

Sport NZ, together with academics from Victoria University of Wellington, conducted the study following surveys of between 2500 to 4500 adults (18 years and older) between April 2020 and April 2021.

It showed that as the country emerged from the first lockdown in June 2020, participation in weekly physical activity was significantly 5.7 per cent lower than before the pandemic.

That trend continued and from June 2020 through April 2021, while there were variations in the participation rates of physical activity, the big picture was one of a large and sustained decline in physical activity when compared to pre-pandemic.

Focus is being put on enticing people back to pre-pandemic physical activity levels. Photo / 123rf

The key research findings were:

• The proportion of people participating in any physical activity in the past week dropped significantly to 5.7 per cent below pre-pandemic levels by June 2020.

• By April 2021, this was still 3.4 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.

• The mean number of physical activities people participated in each week decreased by more than 20 per cent compared to before the pandemic.

• The mean hours of physical activity people participated in each week was 15 per cent below pre-pandemic levels by April 2021.

• The proportion of adults meeting physical activity recommendations dropped significantly to 5 per cent below pre-pandemic levels and had not recovered by April 2021.

Lead academic Associate Professor for Sport NZ, Justin Richards, says it is clear from this study that the pandemic has affected the habits of people across Aotearoa New Zealand when it comes to physical activity.

"Given that New Zealand had relatively few social restrictions one year into the pandemic, it is concerning that physical activity didn't return to normal levels, and this suggests an impact on habitual physical activity. There has been significant investment into the sector to assist in the recovery from the pandemic, but we also understand the challenges people encountered with continuing their normal activities, like going to the gym or playing organised sport, due to the restrictions imposed to keep the country safe."

While we have not received any Northland-specific data, there is nothing to demonstrate that physical activity levels in Northland are any different to the above figures. That is obviously a big concern for the sport and recreation providers across the region, who now more than ever are working collaboratively to attract more Northlanders into regular physical activity.

As the Covid restrictions begin to ease, collaborative efforts such as those being undertaken by the Northland Sports Coalition will assume even more importance in order to encourage more Northlanders to ensure physical activity becomes a part of their everyday lives.

With a regional strategy for play, activity and sport (Kōkiri ai te Waka Hourua) having been developed recently, and with the extra Covid-inspired investment from Sport NZ now available for innovative physical activity initiatives, Northland sport and recreation providers - such as regional sports organisations, sports clubs, schools and active recreation groups - are in a great position to try new and different ways of enticing Northlanders to become active.

The next few Sport Thought articles will feature some of these innovative initiatives.