Section 7: How the pandemic affected children’s mental health and wellbeing
(b) Children’s exercising, eating and sleeping routines pre-/post-pandemic
Children were asked if their exercising, eating and sleeping routines had changed compared to before
the pandemic. Children were asked if they were doing more, less, or the same exercising, eating and
sleeping as before the pandemic.
Some parents/guardians and grandparents,
predominantly from NSW and Victoria where
extended lockdowns were enforced, wrote
about this issue in free-text responses:
Figure 17: Children’s survey: what has changed for you over the last two years?
Regular physical
exercise or
playing sport
Eating
Sleep
1090
901
(24%)
1388
(20%)
1818
952
(40%)
1420
(31%)
(21%)
708
(16%)
1180
(30%)
(26%)
592
(13%)
1263
(28%)
1197
(26%)
1168
(26%)
Same as before the pandemic
Doing this more
Doing this less
Did not answer question
When disaggregating these findings, there were
differences between some groups:
•
34% of children aged 16–17 were doing
less physical exercise, and 21% were
eating less
•
33% of girls reported sleeping less, and
34% reported exercising less
•
57% of children identifying as non-binary
or other reported sleeping less, 38%
reported eating less, and 45% reported
exercising less.
Responses by parents/guardians and
grandparents about their child’s sleeping and
eating habits were consistent with children’s
self-reports.
Shifts in exercising, eating and sleeping patterns
are sometimes associated with changes in
mental health and wellbeing. However, in the
case of this report, assumptions cannot be
made that these are directly related to the
pandemic. Changes may also be attributed to
developmental changes in children over the
course of the last two years.
The decision to close schools and transition
to learning at home, in an effort to control the
spread of the COVID-19 virus, had immediate
and far-reaching impacts on children. While
school closures varied in length within different
jurisdictions, the longest periods of school
closures and consequent remote learning
occurred in NSW and Victoria in 2020–2021.
(c) Differences in responses between
children, and parents/guardians and
grandparents about children’s physical
health
20% of children reported that they were
doing more physical exercise than before the
pandemic and 7% of parents/guardians and
grandparents thought that this was the case.
62% of parents/guardians and grandparents
reported that their children were engaging in
less physical exercise than they had previously.
62 |
7.3 Education
The move to remote learning worried the
majority of children, parents/guardians and
grandparents who responded to this survey.
Some children indicated that physical activity
was an important protective factor for them
during the pandemic, and something they
missed when it was restricted.
In free-text responses, while children reported
worrying about the impacts on their academic
learning, their primary concern was missing
their friends and teachers.
‘Mental health shapes my life’: COVID-19 & kids’ wellbeing • 2022 | 63