Physical literacy is associated with children's adherence to physical activity guidelines during COVID-19

Figures & data

Figure 1. Example of Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire item relating to ‘Moving with Equipment’, within the physical domain. The scoring assigned to the participant’s response range between 1 (far right option indicating low proficiency at a skill) to 4 (far left option indicating high proficiency at a skill). Note that scores are not visible during administration.

Table 1. Parental demographic characteristics.

	N	Percentage
Education
University or tertiary education	400	61.70
Technical/trade certificate/apprenticeship	102	15.74
Completed high school	98	15.12
Some high school or less	48	7.41
Employment
Paid employment	486	75.00
Unpaid employment	22	3.40
Home-duties full time	76	11.73
Unemployed	40	6.17
Student	13	2.01
Retired	9	1.39
Other^a	2	0.31
English at home
Yes	591	91.20
No	57	8.80
State of residence (Australia)
NSW	222	34.30
VIC	196	30.30
QLD	114	17.60
WA	52	8.00
SA	43	6.60
TAS	9	1.40
ACT	8	1.20
NT	4	0.60

Notes: Australian Capital Territory (ACT); New South Wales (NSW); Northern Territory (NT); Queensland (QLD); Victoria (VIC); Western Australia (WA); South Australia (SA); Tasmania (TAS). ^aUnknown.

Table 2. Adherence to physical activity stratified by participants’ characteristics.

Characteristic	Not meeting PA guidelines		Meeting PA guidelines		Overall
	n (%)	Mean ± SD	n (%)	Mean ± SD	n (%)	Mean ± SD	t / χ^2	p-value
Before COVID-19
Age	478	10.2 ± 1.7	170	10.0 ± 1.7	648	10.1 ± 1.7	1.40	0.162
Sex^a							1.75	0.186
Boys	289 (61.1)		94 (55.3)		383 (59.6)
Girls	184 (38.9)		76 (44.7)		260 (40.4)
Education ^b							1.62	0.202
Tertiary education	302 (63.2)		98 (57.7)		400 (61.7)
Non-tertiary education	176 (36.8)		72 (42.3)		248 (38.3)
Employment							5.62	0.018
Paid employment	370 (77.4)		116 (68.2)		486 (75.0)
Unpaid employment / unemployed ^c	108 (22.6)		54 (31.8)		162 (25.0)
English at home							1.55	0.213
Speak English at home	432 (90.4)		159 (93.5)		591 (91.2)
Do not speak English at home	46 (9.62)		11 (6.47)		57 (8.8)
During COVID-19
Age	488	10.2 ± 1.7	160	10.0 ± 1.7	648	10.1 ± 1.7	0.97	0.333
Sex^a							0.97	0.324
Boys	293 (60.7)		90 (56.3)		383 (59.6)
Girls	190 (39.3)		70 (43.7)		260 (40.4)
Education^b							0.80	0.372
Tertiary education	306 (62.7)		94 (58.7)		400 (61.7)
Non-tertiary education	182 (37.3)		66 (41.3)		248 (38.3)
Employment							7.48	0.006
Paid employment	379 (77.7)		107 (66.9)		486 (75.0)
Unpaid employment / unemployed^c	109 (22.3)		53 (33.1)		162 (25.0)
English at home							1.72	0.190
Speak English at home	441 (90.4)		150 (93.8)		591 (91.2)
Do not speak English at home	47 (9.6)		10 (6.2)		57 (8.8)

Notes: Physical activity (PA); standard deviation (SD); p-values indicate the statistical significance of differences between groups, assessed with t-test or χ² test depending on the nature of the variables (categorical/continuous); significant differences are marked in bold. ^aChildren whose gender was reported to be ‘other’ or ‘prefer not to answer/say’ were not included (n = 5); ^bTertiary education refers to university or tertiary education, whereas non-tertiary education included technical/trade certificate/apprenticeship, completed high school and some high school or less; ^cIncluding unpaid employment, retired, unemployed, home-duties full time, student and other.

Table 3. Physical literacy total and subdomain scores stratified by sex.

	Score range		Boys (n = 383)	Girls (n = 260)	Overall (n = 643)^a
Physical Literacy	Possible	Actual	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD	T-statistic	P-value
Overall score	30–120	32–120	94.6 ± 16.4	92.7 ± 16.2	93.8 ± 16.4	1.44	0.152
Physical domain	12–48	12–48	37.1 ± 7.2	35.5 ± 7.2	36.4 ± 7.2	2.76	0.006
Psychological domain	7–28	7–28	21.9 ± 4.5	21.6 ± 4.3	21.8 ± 4.4	0.92	0.356
Social domain	4–16	4–16	13.2 ± 2.7	13.4 ± 2.6	13.2 ± 2.7	−0.92	0.360
Cognitive domain	7–28	7–28	22.4 ± 4.5	22.3 ± 4.3	22.4 ± 4.4	0.46	0.645

Note: Standard deviation (SD). ^aOnly male and female were included in this comparison; children whose gender was reported to be ‘other’ or ‘prefer not to say’ (n = 5) were not included.

Table 4. Physical literacy total and subdomain scores stratified by parental education and occupation.

	Parental Education^a			Parental Occupation			Overall (n = 648)
Physical Literacy	Tertiary (n = 400)	Non-tertiary (n = 248)	P-value	Paid employment (n = 486)	Other^b (n = 162)	P-value	Mean ± SD
Overall score	96.2 ± 15.5	89.7 ± 17.1	<0.0001	94.7 ± 16.0	90.7 ± 17.2	0.009	93.7 ± 16.4
Physical domain	37.2 ± 6.9	35.1 ± 7.5	0.0003	36.9 ± 7.0	34.9 ± 7.5	0.003	36.4 ± 7.2
Psychological domain	22.4 ± 4.2	20.8 ± 4.6	<0.0001	22.0 ± 4.3	21.1 ± 4.7	0.030	21.8 ± 4.4
Social domain	13.6 ± 2.4	12.6 ± 3.0	<0.0001	13.3 ± 2.7	13.1 ± 2.7	0.400	13.2 ± 2.7
Cognitive domain	23.0 ± 4.3	21.2 ± 4.5	<0.0001	22.6 ± 4.3	21.6 ± 4.7	0.026	22.3 ± 4.4

Note: Presented values indicate mean and standard deviation (M ± SD) of physical literacy scores.

^a Tertiary education refers to university or tertiary education, whereas non-tertiary education included technical/trade certificate/apprenticeship, completed high school and some high school or less; ^bIncluding unpaid employment, retired, unemployed, home-duties full time, student and other.

Table 5. Physical literacy overall and subdomain stratified by adherence with physical activity guidelines before and during COVID-19.

Physical Literacy	Not meeting PA guidelines		Meeting PA guidelines		Overall		T-statistic	P-value
	n	Mean ± SD	n	Mean ± SD	n	Mean ± SD
Before COVID-19
Physical literacy score	478	92.3 ± 16.9	170	97.7 ± 14.2	648	93.7 ± 16.4	−4.08	0.0001
Physical domain	478	35.8 ± 7.3	170	38.0 ± 6.6	648	36.4 ± 7.2	−3.55	0.0004
Psychological domain	478	21.4 ± 4.6	170	22.7 ± 4.0	648	21.8 ± 4.4	−3.45	0.0006
Social domain	478	13.0 ± 2.8	170	13.9 ± 2.2	648	13.9 ± 2.7	−4.27	< 0.0001
Cognitive domain	478	22.0 ± 4.6	170	23.1 ± 3.9	648	22.3 ± 4.4	−3.05	0.0025
During COVID-19
Physical literacy score	488	91.9 ± 16.9	160	99.1 ± 12.6	648	93.7 ± 16.4	−5.40	< 0.0001
Physical domain	488	35.7 ± 7.3	160	38.5 ± 6.5	648	36.4 ± 7.2	−4.46	< 0.0001
Psychological domain	488	21.4 ± 4.6	160	23.0 ± 3.8	648	21.8 ± 4.4	−4.44	< 0.0001
Social domain	488	12.9 ± 2.8	160	14.1 ± 2.0	648	13.2 ± 2.7	−5.59	< 0.0001
Cognitive domain	488	21.9 ± 4.6	160	23.6 ± 3.8	648	22.3 ± 4.4	−4.55	< 0.0001

Note: Physical activity (PA); standard deviation (SD).

Figure 2. Predicted probability of meeting the physical activity guidelines before (A) or during (B) COVID-19 according to children’s physical literacy score.

Table 6. Associations between physical literacy and meeting physical activity guidelines before and during COVID-19.

	Meeting PA guidelines before COVID-19				Meeting PA guidelines during COVID-19				Meeting PA guidelines during COVID-19
			95% CI				95% CI				95% CI
Predictors	OR	p-value	LL	UL	OR	p-value	LL	UL	OR	p-value	LL	UL
Physical literacy (overall score)	1.02	< 0.001	1.01	1.04	1.03	< 0.001	1.02	1.05	1.03	0.001	1.01	1.05
Girls^a	1.23	0.261	0.86	1.78	1.17	0.405	0.80	1.71	1.01	0.979	0.58	1.75
Child age	0.93	0.164	0.83	1.03	0.94	0.294	0.84	1.05	1.00	0.976	0.85	1.17
Paid employment^b	0.58	0.009	0.39	0.87	0.52	0.002	0.34	0.78	0.58	0.079	0.31	1.07
Meeting PA guidelines before COVID-19									57.45	< 0.001	33.24	99.31
Physical domain	1.05	< 0.001	1.02	1.08	1.07	< 0.001	1.04	1.10	1.05	0.008	1.01	1.10
Girls^a	1.28	0.190	0.89	1.84	1.22	0.293	0.84	1.79	1.05	0.851	0.61	1.83
Child age	0.93	0.199	0.84	1.04	0.95	0.367	0.85	1.06	1.01	0.918	0.86	1.18
Paid employment^b	0.58	0.008	0.39	0.87	0.52	0.002	0.35	0.78	0.59	0.089	0.32	1.08
Meeting PA guidelines before COVID-19									56.98	< 0.001	33.13	97.98
Psychological domain	1.08	0.001	1.03	1.13	1.10	< 0.001	1.05	1.15	1.09	0.010	1.02	1.16
Girls^a	1.21	0.295	0.84	1.75	1.15	0.463	0.79	1.67	0.98	0.954	0.57	1.71
Child age	0.93	0.169	0.83	1.03	0.94	0.309	0.85	1.05	1.00	0.993	0.85	1.18
Paid employment^b	0.60	0.012	0.40	0.90	0.54	0.003	0.36	0.81	0.61	0.112	0.33	1.12
Meeting PA guidelines before COVID-19									57.50	< 0.001	33.43	98.93
Social domain	1.16	< 0.001	1.07	1.25	1.22	< 0.001	1.12	1.32	1.20	0.003	1.07	1.35
Girls^a	1.16	0.425	0.81	1.67	1.08	0.674	0.74	1.58	0.91	0.740	0.52	1.58
Child age	0.93	0.159	0.83	1.03	0.94	0.293	0.84	1.05	1.00	0.957	0.85	1.17
Paid employment^b	0.62	0.017	0.41	0.92	0.55	0.004	0.37	0.83	0.61	0.108	0.33	1.11
Meeting PA guidelines before COVID-19									57.34	< 0.001	33.23	98.96
Cognitive domain	1.07	0.003	1.02	1.11	1.11	< 0.001	1.06	1.16	1.12	0.001	1.05	1.20
Girls^a	1.20	0.328	0.83	1.72	1.13	0.511	0.78	1.65	0.96	0.871	0.55	1.66
Child age	0.93	0.172	0.83	1.03	0.94	0.294	0.85	1.05	0.99	0.878	0.84	1.16
Paid employment^b	0.60	0.013	0.41	0.90	0.53	0.002	0.36	0.80	0.57	0.075	0.31	1.06
Meeting PA guidelines before COVID-19									60.25	< 0.001	34.69	104.64

Notes: Physical activity (PA); Odd ratio (OR); Confidence intervals (CI); Lower limit (LL); Upper limit (UL). Significant associations adjusted for multiple comparisons (i.e. Bonferroni correction of the alpha level: α/k = 0.05/15 = 0.0033) are marked in bold. ^aReference level: Boys; ^bReference level: Other (i.e. including unpaid employment, retired, unemployed, home-duties full time, student and other).

Data availability statement

The datasets for this study are available upon reasonable request submitted to the Faculty of Health Human Ethics Advisory Group in Deakin University (Reference number: HEAG-H 82_2019).