Haile, Sarah R.Gunz, SamuelPeralta, Gabriela P.Ulyte, AgneRaineri, AlessiaRueegg, SonjaYasenok, ViktoriiaRadtke, ThomasPuhan, Milo A.Kriemler, Susi2023-11-272023-11-272023Haile SR, Gunz S, Peralta GP, Ulytė A, Raineri A, Rueegg S, Yasenok V, Radtke T, Puhan MA, Kriemler S. Health-related quality of life and adherence to physical activity and screen time recommendations in schoolchildren: Longitudinal cohort Ciao Corona. Int J Public Health. 2023 Jul 19;68:1606033. DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2023.16060331661-8556http://hdl.handle.net/10230/58371Objectives: We investigated changes in adherence to physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) recommendations of children and adolescents throughout the pandemic, and their association with health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Methods: 1,769 primary (PS, grades 1-6) and secondary (SS, 7-9) school children from Ciao Corona, a school-based cohort study in Zurich, Switzerland, with five questionnaires 2020-2022. HRQOL was assessed using the KINDL questionnaire. PA (≥60 min/day moderate-to-vigorous PA) and ST (≤2 h/day ST) recommendations followed WHO guidelines. Results: Adherence to PA recommendations dropped in 2020 (83%-59% PS, 77%-52% SS), but returned to pre-pandemic levels by 2022 (79%, 66%). Fewer children met ST recommendations in 2020 (74% PS, 29% SS) and 2021 (82%, 37%) than pre-pandemic (95%, 68%). HRQOL decreased 3 points between 2020 and 2022, and was 9.7 points higher (95% CI 3.0-16.3) in March 2021 in children who met both versus no recommendations. Conclusion: Adherence to WHO guidelines on PA and ST during the pandemic had a consistent association with HRQOL despite longitudinal changes in behavior.application/pdfeng© 2023 Haile, Gunz, Peralta, Ulytė, Raineri, Rueegg, Yasenok, Radtke, Puhan and Kriemler. 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) and the copyright owner(s) 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.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2023.1606033SARS-CoV-2Mental health and wellbeingPhysical activity (PA)Screen timeYouthinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess