GET UP & GET OUT
Physical activity is vital to counter pandemic’s harmfully sedentary habits
It’s been a little over a year since the coronavirus pandemic shut down life as we knew it. How much physical activity have you done since then? Are your regular movements primarily from your bed to your sofa and back to bed, with occasional visits to the kitchen? Perhaps you are working remotely and include your workspace in your daily routine.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In the United States, regular physical activity wasn’t that common before the pandemic, data show. A 2018 report in the Journal of American Medical Association concluded that 1 in 4 American adults sit for more than eight hours a day, while 4 in 10 are physically inactive.
Statistics for 2020-2021 are hard to come by so far. But many experts and medical professionals worry that the pandemic is making an already alarming situation worse.
The concern goes beyond adults. The World Health Organization reported in 2018 that 80 percent of children between ages 11 and 17 were not getting even an hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.
That was before the pandemic. Lack of physical activity can result in various ailments, including obesity and such mental health issues as depression and substance abuse.
“It is more important than ever to be active during the pandemic,” said James F. Sallis, distinguished professor emeritus at the University of California
San Diego’s Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health.
“People are fearful of getting sick, or losing a job, or getting reduced pay or not seeing loved ones. There are a lot of stress triggers,” Sallis said. “Physical activity is a remedy for mental health.”
Sallis pointed out that the average American spends nine to 10 hours a day sitting. Breaking that pattern is crucial during the pandemic. A key benefit of physical activity is the improvement of
immune function, which will help someone fighting COVID-19. Physical activity, he said, helps bring the stress hormone cortisol back into balance, which improves both mental and physical responses to the coronavirus.
Get active for the family
While the pandemic has affected all San Diegans, experts say Latinos and African Americans have been hit harder than others by both COVID-19 and the economic aftermath of the shutdown.
The pandemic has exposed economic and health disparities, according to Noe C. Crespo, associate professor at San Diego State University’s School of Public Health, who has a doctorate in public health.
“Latinos and African Americans have higher risk factors,” Crespo said. “Those groups have worse outcomes from COVID. Latinos here have the highest number of COVID cases and deaths.
“Generally, people in these groups experience higher stress. Occupational and daily life stressors increase complications of many health and mental conditions,” he said. “The rates of depression have gone up.”
Most of Crespo’s work at SDSU is devoted to promoting physical activity and changing sedentary behavior within underserved communities and people of color. He discovered that focusing on just the individual benefit wasn’t as effective as touting the benefits of good health to someone’s family.
“Telling them being active will result in them being healthy and looking better doesn’t rate as high as telling them how it will improve family life,” he said. “Emphasize how staying healthy translates to being there for their children, spouse and family, and they’ll respond.”
Individual solutions: Move more
Neither Sallis nor Crespo suggest that people who are sedentary run a 10K race tomorrow. But both contend that any movement is helpful.
“Moderate activity has a lot of benefit,” noted Sallis, who advocates brisk walking. “More recent studies tell us you don’t have to do 20 minutes at a time. Every minute of activity is going to be of benefit. Don’t worry about a threshold.”
Crespo pointed out that underserved communities don’t have as many public parks and safe streets as other neighborhoods. While broader solutions are needed, he said, individuals can increase their physical activity and sleep better as a result.
“The message is: Move more,’ ” Crespo said.
“Do whatever will get you moving. It may help to monitor your sedentary time. Some apps give you a prompt to take a break. At least stand up every hour — more frequently is better. Standing is beneficial. Any movement is better than sitting.”