The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions included various physical distancing measures to limit disease transmission which also applied to indoor sports facilities. This posed challenges to engaging in physical activities (PA) in indoor facilities in Sweden. Therefore, outdoor recreation in nature may have become more important for overall PA levels. The current study thus investigates the changing role of Nature-Related Habits (NRH) for overall PA levels from before to during the pandemic, in a population-based sample of adults in Sweden. 

The study was conducted on a sub-sample of adults within the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH), participating in SLOSH-corona (n = 1485, Mean age = 57.70, 55.9% women). Different types of NRH and overall PA levels before and during the pandemic were assessed via self-report measures, along with control variables. 

The results indicated that NRH played an increased role for overall PA levels during the pandemic compared to before, also after controlling for sex, socioeconomic position, age and marital/cohabitation status in the regression models.

The study demonstrates the increased importance of NRH for overall PA levels during the pandemic, even after controlling for demographic variables. Preserving and promoting the availability and access to nature environments can support PA in the population and may be especially important during public health crises and should be prioritised in public health and environmental policies.