The effect of imposed inactivity due to coronavirus outbreak on adolescent body composition and Vo2max

Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a period of inactivity caused by the outbreak of coronavirus on body composition and maximal oxygen consumption in adolescents. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 178 male adolescents (age 13.85 ± 0.057 years) participated voluntarily. Height, weight, body mass index and maximum oxygen consumption were measured in two time intervals with an interval of 6 months as pre-test and post-test. Cooper test was used to determine the maximum aerobic power. SPSS software version 26 and Paired t-test at the level of p≤0.05 were used to analyze the mean values of pre-test and post-test data. Findings: The results of present study showed that lifestyle changes caused by the spread of coronavirus cause a significant increase in body mass index (p = 0.001), weight (p = 0.001) and also a significant decrease in maximum oxygen consumption (p = 0.032). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be said that a six-month period of inactivity caused by the outbreak of coronavirus causes changes in body composition and therefore threatens health.