Effect of encouraging greater physical activity on number of steps and psychological well-being of university freshmen during the first COVID-19-related emergency in Japan

Problem Statement: In early 2020, novel coronavirus began spreading around the world. Japan entered its first state of emergency in April that year, and people were asked to avoid going out unless necessary. University students were unable to attend university, let alone participate in other activities. This may have caused a reduction in physical activity and affected mental health. Encouraging physical activity is a well-known effective way to maintain and improve one’s psychological well-being. Thus, encouraging even a little amount of physical activity under the circumstances could benefit the psychological well-being of university students. Purpose: This study investigated whether the number of steps, psychological well-being, and sleep of university freshmen change following physical activity encouragement during the first novel coronavirus state of emergency in Japan. Methods: For 2 weeks from the middle of April in 2020, 161 university freshmen were asked to count their steps daily. In the first week (before intervention), they were told to behave normally. The next week (after intervention), they were told to add at least 10 min/day of walking level or more intense exercise to their activity in the previous week. They also completed questionnaires about number of steps before and after the intervention, their psychological well-being, and sleep. Results: Although number of steps increased after the intervention, no significant changes after the intervention were observed for psychological well-being and sleep. In addition, we divided subjects into groups based on the change in number of steps after the intervention (decreased, increased by 1 to 999 steps, increased by ≥1,000 steps) and conducted group comparisons. An interaction was observed with happiness, which was significantly increased among students whose step count increased by ≥1,000 steps from pre (7.0±2.3) to post (7.6±2.1) intervention. Conclusions: Encouraging physical activity during the state of emergency may have positive effects, especially on emotions like happiness.