Effect of COVID-19 on Women's Exercise and Health
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Women's Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 6689
Special Issue Editors
Interests: vascular function; exercise physiology; ultrasonography; exercise prescription; female physiology; women’s health
Interests: sex differences; gender differences; COVID-19; women’s/female physiology; women’s/female health; women’s/female exercise; women’s/female exercise & health psychology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global pandemic resulting from the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) has fundamentally changed our lives. Entire countries locked down, schools and workplaces closed, stay-at-home orders, mask mandates, social isolation and severe restrictions were put in place, all to limit virus transmission, which has only further highlighted the inequities already experienced within our communities.
Emerging evidence suggests that women have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19 economically, socially and environmentally. Women’s lives and livelihoods continue to be significantly impacted with job losses, carrying the burden of unpaid care, increased isolation during pregnancy and post-partum, vulnerability to domestic and family violence and a heavy reliance on women in female-dominated vocations as frontline healthcare workers. Despite proportional distribution of COVID-19 diagnoses between the sexes, “long Covid” sufferers are overwhelmingly women. These collective experiences have led to a substantial mental and physical toll on the health and wellbeing of women.
Regular participation in exercise, sport and physical activity infers substantial physiological, psychological and social benefits. The WHO now recognises physical inactivity as a pervasive public health concern linked with several chronic diseases. Yet, globally, women are less active than men and face many complex barriers to exercise, including social, cultural, physical and psychological barriers. With COVID-19, previously existing and new barriers have further thwarted opportunities for women and girls to exercise. Likewise, women’s experiences with and responses to exercise have also changed. The broadening gender gap means fewer women have access to even fewer opportunities to participate in, benefit from and be supported to exercise, ultimately impacting women’s health, wellbeing and performance in the short and long term.
It is necessary to separate the impacts of COVID-19 between men, women and where possible, across the gender spectrum, to inform what these impacts are and how we can best address these gender inequities. By shifting the paradigm in public health campaigns, healthcare approaches and policy, we can support women’s exercise for their health in the time of, and after, COVID-19.
This Special Issue is open to any contributions in the subject area of "Effect of COVID-19 on Women’s Exercise and Health”.
Dr. Angela Spence
Dr. Victoria S. Sprung
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- women’s health
- women’s sport
- female athletes
- exercise and female physiology
- sex-differences and COVID-19 infection
- women’s exercise and sport psychology
- gender differences
