An Analysis of Health Perceptions and Performance in Elementary Students in Korea during the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: Healthcare (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 83
• Main Authors: Seo, Yongsuk, Kim, Chul-Min, Kim, Min-Jun, Lee, Eui-Jae, Youn, Hyun-Su
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavior; Boys; Childrens health; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Education parks; Elementary school students; elementary student; Epidemics; Exercise; Food habits; Girls; Health; Health aspects; Health attitudes; Health behavior; Health maintenance organizations; health perception; importance-performance analysis (IPA); ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; Pandemics; Psychological aspects; School facilities; Shelter in place; Sleep; South Korea; Students; Surveys; South Korea; importance-performance analysis (IPA); elementary student; ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; health perception
• ISSN: 2227-9032; 2227-9032
• DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11010083

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social distancing guidelines changed lifestyles, including increased sedentary time, physical inactivity, and disrupted sleep patterns among children. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the health awareness (mental health, disease, physical activity, sleep, eating habit, and hygiene health management) of elementary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and use the importance-performance analysis (IPA) technique to identify gender differences in health perceptions. We collected data on 1006 students, which was analyzed using frequency analysis, reliability testing, independent sample t-tests, and importance-performance analysis (IPA). A median importance value of 0.163 and a median performance value of 4.048 were selected as cross points to distribute the IPA matrix into four quadrants. The highest performance was given for wearing a mask and sanitary practice; the IPA matrix indicated that the sense of belonging, happiness, trust, and movement activity were located in quadrant I. Children's regular physical activity and level of physical activity were low, especially that of girls. Children's sleep management was poor. Their physical activity and sleep-related factors must be improved under the facilitation of the national government, public education institutions, and families.