Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted daily routines but also provided family time opportunities. Our study estimated the associations between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and screen time (ST) among parent–child dyads early during the first wave of the pandemic. Our secondary analysis included survey data (n = 329 parent–child dyads) gathered from a random sample of households (Calgary, Canada) between April and June 2020. MVPA, ST, and sociodemographic characteristics of one parent and one child or adolescent (5–17 years) per family were captured. Covariate-adjusted logistic regression models estimated the associations (odds ratios, OR) between parent and child MVPA and ST. The sample included 149 girls and 180 boys (mean age: 10.7, SD 4.0 years). Among parents (mean age: 42.7, SD 8.9 years), 67.2% were female. Parent weekly hours of MVPA were associated with children achieving ≥60 min of MVPA 7 days/week (OR: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.09). Parent weekly hours of recreational ST were associated with children being less likely to achieve ≥60 min of MVPA (OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95, 0.99) and more likely to participate in at least one ST activity for ≥2 h day (OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.19). During the COVID-19 pandemic, parent movement behaviours remained key correlates of children’s daily MVPA and ST.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to restrictions imposed by institutional research ethics approval, which limit data sharing beyond the research team named on the ethics file. However, the data may be made available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and subject to research ethics board approval. The full online questionnaire used for data collection is provided as Supplementary Material.
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Acknowledgements
Funding support was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; FDN-154331) and Vivo for Healthier Generations (a charitable enterprise in Calgary, Canada). The project contributions of Drs. Jennie Petersen and Dalia Ghoneim are greatly appreciated.
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GRM and PKD-B conceived the study. LAN and GRM undertook the analysis. All authors contributed to the interpretation of results. LAN drafted the first version of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the final version of the manuscript.
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The University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board approved the original study (REB#19-1910; January 21, 2020) and the secondary analysis (REB#23-1487; October 27, 2013). The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and with the ethical principles outlined in Canada’s Tri‑Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS‑2).
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Participants interested in participating in the study were provided with an online study information and consent form prior to being granted access to the online survey (April to June 2020). Participants provided online written consent by selecting ‘I consent to participating in the study’. Participants consented to data collection, use of their data for study purposes, and the publication of results generated from their data. All participants consented.
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Ng, L.A., Doyle-Baker, P.K. & McCormack, G.R. Associations between parental and child physical activity and screen time during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Humanit Soc Sci Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06731-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06731-0
