How COVID-19 pandemic impacted the students and staff physical activity? A study in a Southern Brazilian University

Physical activity and its positive effects on coronavirus have been extensively discussed in the literature. However, there is still lack of evidence on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the health-related behaviors of the Brazilian university community. The aim of the present study is to describe physical activity practice during the coronavirus pandemic among students and staff of a southern Brazilian university, as well as its association with sociodemographic characteristics. This was a self-administered web-based cross-sectional study, carried out among a southern Brazilian community. The main outcome for this study was leisure time physical activity during the coronavirus pandemic. Considering only leisure-time, 21.0% and 24.0% of the students and staff, respectively, reported achieving physical activity recommendations (≥150 minutes per week). There was a decline of more than 15 percentage points in physical activity practice comparing pre- and during the pandemic, and those following the protocols of staying at home presented lower levels of leisure-time physical activity. Physical activity practice was mainly performed at home and without any professional help. Leisure-time physical activity prevalence during the pandemic was relatively low among students and staff, and participants that followed staying at home protocols presented lower levels of physical activity. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Each participant that accepted to participate, signed an informed consent term electronically before starting the survey. This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Pelotas under protocol number 4.103.085. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors