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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1406120

The influence of COVID-19 pandemic on body mass and cardiopulmonary endurance of Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal follow-up study

Provisionally accepted
Hao Cheng Hao Cheng 1*Long Jiao Long Jiao 2Bin Liu Bin Liu 3
  • 1 Shandong Sport University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
  • 2 Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
  • 3 Jinan Licheng No.2 High School, Jinan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: With the spread and spread of COVID-19 around the world, youth's learning, lifestyle and health have been greatly affected. Based on the current research, there is no adequate analysis of the development of young people's physique and heart and lung health during COVID-19, and there is a lack of relevant targeted research. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of BMI and Maximum Oxygen Absorption (VO2max) in 12-14 year old teenagers before and after COVID-19. Method: The BMI, 1000/800 m running time and associated data related to 29813 individuals between 2019 and 2022 were collected by cluster sampling, and the changes of BMI Z and VO2max before and after the outbreak were analysed. Moreover, the relationship between BMI and cardiovascular endurance was analyzed by means of multi-linear stepwise regression. Results: The covariance analysis models indicated that compared with 2019, adolescent weight, BMI, and 1000/800m running time showed varying degrees of growth in 2020, while lung capacity decreased. All indicators achieved rapid rebound in 2021 and 2022 (P<0.01); the one-way analysis of variance models indicated that The BMI Z score and VO2max of adolescents showed growth and decline in 2020, respectively, and achieved rapid recovery and development in 2021 and 2022 (P<0.01). The results of the multiple linear stepwise regression analysis indicate that, after the years of BMI Z and novel coronavirus infection were included (△R2=0.179), adolescents' overweight and obesity were positively correlated with the maximum oxygen uptake (B=0.643, 95%CI=0.634~0.652); There is a negative correlation between weight loss and maximum oxygen uptake (B=-0.510, 95%CI=-0.537~-0.484); The year of novel coronavirus infection was positively correlated with the maximum oxygen uptake of adolescents (B=0.116, 95%CI=0.107~0.125). Conclusions: This study shows that the impact of COVID-19 on BMI and heart and lung health in adolescents is significant. Young people of all ages and sexes showed similar developmental trends.

    Keywords: Body Mass Index, COVID-19, Cardiopulmonary endurance, adolescents, Follow-up study

    Received: 24 Mar 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cheng, Jiao and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hao Cheng, Shandong Sport University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.