Physical exercise, food intake and anxiety/stress status among participants of the MOVIP project in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction:  The new coronavirus pandemic has been affecting the lives of many people. Individuals in communities all around the country and the world are being encouraged to stay home, what may cause sedentary behavior, bad eating habits and contribute to increased levels of anxiety and stress. Thus, home training become a good alternative during the social distancing. Aim: Describe and compare behaviors regarding physical exercise, food intake and anxiety/stress status of men and women participating in the MOVIP project in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and Methods: 99 swimmer individuals, between 18 and 67 years old both male and female, have participated to this research. During 8 weeks, functional trainings were provided to the participants in order to be done at home. Data were collected through an online form, via Google forms, with questions about personal information, behavior related to physical exercising, food intake and self-reported psychological state of the participants. Data were analyzed through the statistic pack SPSS 22.0 using descriptive analysis and the results were presented as percentage of answering frequency. The open answers were grouped by similar categories through content analysis. Results: According to the analyzed information, 54,5% of the interviewees answered that they kept on periodically exercising, 52,5% reported that their food intake had increased and there was a prevalence of 66,7% increasing of anxiety/stress levels during social distancing. Conclusion: The results confirmed that oriented and online provided trainings may positively affect physically active individuals. Participants’ increasing in food intake and emotional state worsen were also signalized, which suggests that these variables must be considered by professionals in this studied context.