Numerous studies have confirmed this hypothesis during the Covid-19 pandemic, as PA has been repeatedly shown to decrease during the restriction periods. Unstructured days, on the other hand, promote obesogenic behaviors, including lower physical activity (PA), increased sitting time, and other harmful health behaviors. postulated that structured days beneficially regulate obesogenic behaviors. The ‘Structured Day Hypothesis’ by Brazendale et al.

These measures represented a significant change in everyday life and affected individuals’ usual processes and routines. To limit the spread of the virus and minimize its negative impact, each country developed its strategy to fight the virus through the implementation of measures including cancellation of mass gatherings, closure of public spaces (restaurants, public transport, etc.), ‘stay-at-home’ orders (=‘lockdown’) and protective mask use in public spaces. As of, 192 countries worldwide have been affected by the disease with 169,986,948 confirmed cases and a total of 3,534,435 deaths globally. After the virus spread rapidly globally and the number of cases increased at an accelerating rate, the situation was declared a pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020.

In December 2019, an initial statement emerged from a hospital in Wuhan reporting increased incidences of “viral pneumonia”, marking the beginning of a global pandemic and causing the novel disease Covid-19 which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Nevertheless, the declining trend should be noted and governments should strive to enable PA within periods of pandemic restrictions, or promote alternatives such as digital training to avoid negative health consequences within the population. However, effects were not found to be significant in all age groups. Most self-reported and all device-based measurement methods showed a reduction in PA. PA decreased in all age groups, independent of gender. Thirty-two studies revealed a significant decline in PA, whereas only five studies found a significant increase in PA during the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, 57 studies with a total sample size of 119,094 participants (N between 10 and 60,560 subjects) from 14 countries worldwide with participants aged between four and 93 years were included. Results of the main characteristics were descriptively synthesized and analyzed in a meta-analysis quantifying effects of the pandemic on PA divided by age groups, with additional subgroup analyses of the characteristics age, gender, and measurement method being narratively synthesized.

The literature search was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Thus, the objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate whether and to which extent PA changed from before to during the Covid-19 pandemic, taking age, gender, and measurement method into account. A growing number of studies have examined the impact of the pandemic on different facets of physical activity (PA) an overview combining these (mixed) results, however, is missing. With the outbreak of the Corona Virus Disease 19 (Covid-19) in late 2019, governments increasingly imposed containment strategies, including social distancing as well as restricted population movement, potentially having negative impacts on mental and physical health.

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