Background: Public health recommendations and governmental measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in numerous restrictions on daily living including social distancing, isolation and home confinement. While these measures are imperative to abate the spreading of COVID-19, the impact of these restrictions on health behaviours and lifestyles at home is undefined. Therefore, an international online survey was launched in April 2020, in seven languages, to elucidate the behavioural and lifestyle consequences of COVID-19 restrictions. This report presents the results from the first thousand responders on physical activity (PA) and nutrition behaviours. Methods: Following a structured review of the literature, the “Effects of home Confinement on multiple Lifestyle Behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak (ECLB-COVID19)” Electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists and academics. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online survey platform. Thirty-five research organisations from Europe, North-Africa, Western Asia and the Americas promoted the survey in English, German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Slovenian languages. Questions were presented in a differential format, with questions related to responses “before” and “during” confinement conditions. Results: 1047 replies (54% women) from Asia (36%), Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other (3%) were included in the analysis. The COVID-19 home confinement had a negative effect on all PA intensity levels (vigorous, moderate, walking and overall). Additionally, daily sitting time increased from 5 to 8 h per day. Food consumption and meal patterns (the type of food, eating out of control, snacks between meals, number of main meals) were more unhealthy during confinement, with only alcohol binge drinking decreasing significantly. Conclusion: While isolation is a necessary measure to protect public health, results indicate that it alters physical activity and eating behaviours in a health compromising direction. A more detailed analysis of survey data will allow for a segregation of these responses in different age groups, countries and other subgroups, which will help develop interventions to mitigate the negative lifestyle behaviours that have manifested during the COVID-19 confinement.

Background. The COVID-19 lockdown could engender disruption to lifestyle behaviors, thus impairing mental wellbeing in the general population. This study investigated whether sociodemographic variables, changes in physical activity, and sleep quality from pre- to during lockdown were predictors of change in mental wellbeing in quarantined older adults. Methods. A 12-week international online survey was launched in 14 languages on 6 April 2020. Forty-one research institutions from Europe, Western-Asia, North-Africa, and the Americas, promoted the survey. The survey was presented in a differential format with questions related to responses “pre” and “during” the lockdown period. Participants responded to the Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results. Replies from older adults (aged >55 years, n = 517), mainly from Europe (50.1%), Western-Asia (6.8%), America (30%), and North-Africa (9.3%) were analyzed. The COVID-19 lockdown led to significantly decreased mental wellbeing, sleep quality, and total physical activity energy expenditure levels (all p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that the change in total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure (F_{(2, 514)} = 66.41 p < 0.001) were significant predictors of the decrease in mental wellbeing from pre- to during lockdown (p < 0.001, R²: 0.20). Conclusion. COVID-19 lockdown deleteriously affected physical activity and sleep patterns. Furthermore, change in the total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure were significant predictors for the decrease in mental wellbeing.

The fear of falling (FOF) limits the movements of the older adults, which, in turn, might impair postural mobility. An aquatic environment has a relatively low risk of falling and can improve motor abilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aquatic exercise on postural mobility of the healthy endomorph elderly somatotype. Therefore, 37 healthy endomorphic older adults with an average age of 64.38 ± 4.12 years participated in this study. Participants were randomly divided into four groups (i.e., Aquatic exercise, Dry-land exercise, Aquatic control, and Dry-land control). The Heath-Carter method was used to estimate the criterion somatotype, and the Tinetti method was used to determine postural mobility. Covariance analysis was used to examine the mean differences at a significance level of p < 0.05. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the aquatic exercise group and the two control groups (p < 0.01), and the dry-land exercise group was significantly different from the aquatic control (p < 0.05) and dry-land control groups (p < 0.01). The results indicate that the design of aquatic exercise programs, especially for endomorphic older adults with inappropriate body shape, for whom dry-land exercises are not appropriate, likely, has a positive effect on the motor control and both the balance and gait and provide appropriate postural mobility without FOF in older adults.

Objective: Since the rate of depression and Vitamin D deficiency has been reported in Iranian obese women, it needs to be considered seriously by researchers. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the effect of vitamin D supplement (VD) and indoor physical activity (IPA) vs outdoor physical activity (OPA) on the depression of obese depressed women. Methods: This was a prospective study with 75 women (mean age: 43.5 ± 12.8 years, with body mass index (BMI) ranging from 30.0 to 35.0 kg/m²). They were randomly assigned into four experimental groups who either did indoor or outdoor physical activity with or without Vitamin D. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Beck depression inventory. The intervention group (indoor and outdoor physical activity with vitamin D) was administered a 2,000 IU Vitamin D per day for 12 weeks. The training program included warming-up, main protocol (treadmill versus outdoor jogging) and cooling-down four times a week for 3 months. Results: The results indicated that the level of depression in OPA + VD group was improved from severe (33.26 ± 2.12) to mild (16.73 ± 1.38) suggesting 50% improvement in depression score (P = 0.001) and there was, also, a significant improvement in the depression level of IPA+VD, OPA, and IPA groups from sever to moderate level in depression scores (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Both vitamin D and exercise (especially outdoor) have positive effects on depressive symptoms of depressed obese women. As a result, promotion of an active outdoor lifestyle and having sufficient Vitamin can counteract vitamin D deficiency and the rate of depression in this vulnerable population. Keywords: Vitamin D; Indoor; Outdoor; Depression

Since the prevalence of depression is high among athletes at the end of their athletic career, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-of-day-exercise in group settings on the level of the mood and depression of former elite male athletes.Out of 187 volunteers referring to the sports counseling clinic, 71 retired male athletes who had a national championship record were randomly divided into two morning and evening exercise groups. The inclusion criteria were severe depression (high score in the Beck Depression Inventory-II), the age range of 50 to 60 years, the absence of metabolic syndrome, and the body mass index (BMI) between 28 and 35. All body composition variables were measured using body composition analysis (In Body 320; Korea). The second stage was the collection of data after three months (completion of the training protocol). After data collection, independent and dependent t-tests were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that both groups had a significant improvement in depression compared to the pre-test (p ≤ 0.05), while there was no significant difference between the two groups (p ≥ 0.05). The overall conclusion is that exercise at different times of the morning or evening can improve the psychological state and reduce depression.