Adherence
Maintaining or increasing physical activity and limiting screen time increases during abrupt societal changes (such as pandemic restrictions) mitigates negative mental health consequences, including depression, anxiety, and loneliness.
If you are facing restrictions that make your normal routine impossible, prioritize keeping up your physical activity levels and limit non-essential screen time. The study shows that dropping your activity level or increasing screen time is strongly linked to worse mental health, including higher depression and anxiety. You can maintain activity through home-based exercises or telehealth guidance even if you are isolated.
Maintaining and enhancing physical activity participation and limiting screen time increases during abrupt societal changes may mitigate the mental health consequences.
Why this rating
Cross-sectional observational design with self-reported data limits causal inference, though the sample size is large and associations are statistically significant.
Source
Changes in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Response to COVID-19 and Their Associations with Mental Health in 3052 US Adults
Jacob D. Meyer et al. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2020
DOI 10.3390/ijerph17186469
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →