While the outbreak of coronavirus in the Netherlands may have meant that a lot of people suddenly had a lot more time on their hands, it also resulted in the closure of gyms and sports clubs across the country. According to new research, the closure of these facilities resulted in a number of people cutting down the amount of time they spent exercising.
Research carried out on behalf of the sports umbrella organisation NOC*NSF (The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation) has found that more than a third of people in the Netherlands cut down on the amount of time they spent exercising since the outbreak of coronavirus. NOC*NSF surveyed over 3.000 people between the ages of five and 80 as part of their research.
This trend is most prevalent among teenagers: 71 percent of children and young adults under the age of 18 have spent less time exercising since the spring. Furthermore, almost 10 percent of people have stopped exercising altogether over the past eight months.
On the other hand, some people (around 13 percent) took lockdown and all the extra time they suddenly had as an opportunity to take up a new sport or to start exercising more. The most popular activity was walking, which 15 percent of people in the Netherlands took up after the country went into lockdown, followed by jogging (14 percent).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) released new exercise guidelines on Wednesday, November 25, in which they highlighted the importance of physical activity for mental health and well-being - especially in times of crisis - as part of their Every Move Counts campaign.
In their guidelines, they state that four out of five teenagers and one out of four adults don’t do enough exercise. For children and young adults, the WHO recommends at least one hour of exercise a day. Adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of exercise per week.
The physical activity recommended by the WHO could be anything from walking and gardening, to swimming and cycling.