5. Conclusions
The COVID-19 lockdown measures have shown to have a serious impact on children’s behaviors. This study has shown that all movement behaviors changed during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in toddlers and preschoolers in Chile. The most common sociodemographic factors associated with these changes were child’s age, main caregiver’s age, sex, and education, family income, main caregiver’s education, previous enrolment in an ECEC, dwelling type, space to play at home and type of residence area. Toddlers and preschoolers with space to play at home and living in rural areas had less marked impacts on physical activity, screen time, and sleep quality due to the pandemic. In contrast, older children, those whose caregivers were aged ≥35–<45 years and had higher educational level, and children living in apartments had greater changes, decreasing the TPA and increasing screen time. Together, the information provided in this study may help professionals and decision-makers to balance more precisely the health risks and benefits of confinements, inform future strategies and focus resources to reduce the potential adverse effects of the pandemic, immediately, and in the long-term.