ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON THE LEVEL OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN GOIÁS USING THE IPAQ QUESTIONNAIRE: RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

During the COVID-19 pandemic, classes in graduate courses at Higher Education Institutions in Goiás, Brazil, were suspended in 2020 and part of 2021. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical activity (PA) practice of university students in the state of Goiás. A cross-sectional descriptive prevalence study was carried out. The data were obtained using a form created using the Google Forms platform and sent to 373 university students in Goiás in August 2021. The questionnaire included personal and anthropometric data, and the "International Physical Activity Questionnaire" (IPAQ) was answered for the period before and after the pandemic; a significance level of p <0.05 was adopted. Our research demonstrated a high percentage of inactive academics before (35.6%) and after (37.5%) the pandemic. It was evident that when essential changes were imposed on everyone's routines in times of adversity, university students intensified their basic (pre-pandemic) behavior: those previously active tended to remain active and improve their diet. In contrast, the inactive ones became even more inactive and ate worse. A higher percentage of women remained or became inactive during the pandemic.