Us Female Adolescents’ Sedentary Activities During An Average Weekend Day During Covid-19 Pandemic

Device-based data suggests that sex and developmental stage disparities in sedentary time (ST) during the weekend exists; favoring children and males. Thus, collecting qualitative data on female adolescents’ daily activities is vital to understand these disparities. PURPOSE: To identify the sedentary activities in which females participate during the weekend and ST by period of an average weekend day (weekend morning [7-11:59AM], weekend afternoon [12-5:59 PM], and weekend evening [6-10PM]) during the pandemic. METHODS: Eighteen females (mean age=15.7 years, Race: 70% White, Ethnicity: 55% Hispanic/Latina) completed a semi-structured interview to gather data on the sedentary activities in which they participate at each period of an average weekend day. Also, they were asked to wear an accelerometer on the right hip for 7-consecutive-day to obtain ST variables. Interviews were analyzed using a time mapping approach. Evenson et al. cut points were used to define ST. RESULTS: During weekend mornings, the main sedentary activities in which females engaged were attending church and virtual college tours. During the weekend afternoon, the main sedentary activities reported by the adolescents were watching TV, social media consumption, face timing, and playing video games. For the weekend evening period, females reported that schoolwork completion, watching TV, social media consumption, and talking with friends were their main sedentary activities. On average, female adolescents accumulated 50.4 ± 5.3 min/hour of ST during weekend morning, 48.7 ± 4.4 min/hour of ST during weekend afternoon, and 48.3 ± 10.2 min/hour of ST during weekend evening. CONCLUSIONS: Findings show that regardless of the period of the weekend day, female adolescents spend between 82% - 83% of an hour in ST. However, qualitative data inform us that some of the sedentary activities conducted by the adolescents could provide some mental health benefits such as socializing and reducing isolation by attending church, attending college tours, and talking with friends. On the contrary, activities such as watching TV and social media consumption have been related to poor mental health. Thus, future research should focus on how to reduce leisure screen time during weekend afternoons and evenings.