Ka-Man Yip, Sam W S Wong, Hung-Kwan So, Winnie W Y Tso, Parco M F Siu, Ian C K Wong, Jason C Yam, Mike Y W Kwan, Terry Y S Lum, Lobo H T Louie, Albert Lee, Wilfred H S Wong, Patrick Ip
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether health-related physical fitness and BMI status differed before and after school closure from the COVID-19 pandemic in a population-based cohort of Hong Kong primary schoolchildren. STUDY DESIGN: We examined the BMI z-score, BMI status, and physical fitness z-scores including (i) upper limb muscle strength, (ii) one-minute sit-up test, (iii) sit-and-reach test, and (iv) endurance run tests, among three epochs: pre-pandemic (September 2018 - August 2019), before school closure (September 2019 - January 2020), and partial school reopening (September 2021 - August 2022), using a repeated cross-sectional approach...
September 16, 2023: Journal of Pediatrics