Data over the COVID-19 pandemic period are showing how Australia’s response to COVID-19 has impacted people’s physical activity levels. Overall, the relationship between public health measures designed to address COVID-19 and physical activity is complex.
Restrictions on some activities and gathering sizes commenced in March 2020 in Australia. Between April and June 2020, data from the 2020 ABS Household Impacts of COVID Survey showed that a similar proportion of Australians aged 18 and over reported increasing (21%) or decreasing (19%) their total time spent on exercise or other physical activity than they did prior to the restrictions (in March 2020) (ABS 2020a, 2020b).
Data also suggests that the type of physical activities that adults participated in changed between April to June 2020. Participation in recreational and fitness activities (for example, home exercise, bike riding and recreational walking) were least impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, while participation in organised and team sports (for example, football/soccer, basketball and gym workouts) decreased over this period (Clearinghouse for Sport 2021).
One year on from the initial restrictions, fewer Australian adults reported exercising at a gym or playing an organised sport one or more times per week (25% in June 2021) than they did prior to the restrictions in March 2020 (38%) (ABS 2021). Although by February 2022, this rose to 30% (ABS 2022a).
For more information on how the pandemic has affected the population's health in the context of longer-term trends, see ‘Chapter 2 Changes in the health of Australians during the COVID-19 period’ in Australia’s health 2022: data insights.
For more information on insufficient physical activity, see:
Visit Physical activity for more on this topic.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2019) Microdata: National Health Survey 2017–18, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata, accessed 6 June 2019.
ABS (2020a) Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, 29 Apr–4 May 2020, ABS website, accessed 20 January 2022.
ABS (2020b) Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, 24–29 June 2020, ABS website, accessed 20 January 2022.
ABS (2022a) Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, February 2022, ABS website, accessed 21 March 2022.
ABS (2022b) Physical activity, ABS website, accessed 21 March 2022.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2018) Physical activity across the life stages, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 10 January 2022.
AIHW (2019) Insufficient physical activity, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 10 January 2022.
AIHW (2021) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 10 January 2022.
Clearinghouse for Sport (2021) Ongoing impact of COVID-19 on sport and physical activity participation June 2021 update, Clearinghouse for Sport, accessed 20 January 2022.
Department of Health (2021) Physical activity and exercise guidelines for all Australians, Department of Health, Australian Government, accessed 10 January 2022.
Pedersen BK and Saltin B (2015) ‘Exercise as medicine—evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in 26 different chronic diseases’, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 25(S3):1–72, doi: 10.1111/sms.12581.
WHO (World Health Organization) (2018) Global action plan on physical activity 2018–2030: more active people for a healthier world, WHO, accessed 10 January 2022.