Influence of Parents’ Awareness on Preschool Children’s Daily Life and Physical Activities during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study aimed to determine young children’s opportunities for physical activities at daycare centers and at home and to identify the relationship between these opportunities and parents’ perceptions regarding the status of young children’s physical activities by comparing the conditions at different periods in 2020. The results indicated no difference in the amount and duration of physical activity during childcare between June and October. However, parents were more concerned about their children’s lack of physical activity in June than in October. Moreover, physical activity at home was higher in June than in October. The actual activity level of the preschool children did not increase from June to October, and there was no change in their daily life from June when they were aware of the “disorder and collapse” as a crisis. In addition, the mood of the preschoolers was lower in October than in June, suggesting that changes in social conditions, whether good or bad, alter the behavior and perceptions of adults and that these fluid changes may be “a restless situation in which the environment surrounding them is changing further” for the children. Thus, contrary to social trends and adult perceptions, the children’s situation did not show a recovery trend.