Nkiru Edith Obande-Ogbuinya1 , Ezeji Chika L.1 , Eunice N. Afoke2 , Christian Okechukwu Aleke2, Lois Nnenna Omaka-Amari2 , Ben N. Ohuruogu2 , Chinedu Victor Osuoha2 , Henry Ikechukwu Imah3, Jacinta Ejiaka Ugbelu4 , Anthonia Ogechukwu Nnubia5 , and Ogueri Emmanuel obinna6
Physical activity and sports is a substantial part of a healthy lifestyle especially among university students. This study determined physical activity and sports involvement before and after COVID-19 pandemic among university students of Ebonyi state. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used for the study. The study population consisted of 24,000 university students out of which the sample size of 400 students was drawn. A structured questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The results shows that 183 ( x =2.6) students engage in physical activity before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, whereas after COVID-19 pandemic, only 155 ( x =1.4) students engage in physical activity. This shows that there was a serious decline in physical activity after COVID-19 pandemic. The result further indicated notable differences in the sports involvement among the students before COVID-19 pandemic (58.8%), and after COVID-19 pandemic (42.2%). Moreover, one of the main reason for the serious decline in the university sporting activity after COVID-19 was fear of unknown (60.3%), followed by lack of interest (30.1%). The study concluded that the government and other concerned stakeholders should designing a new programmes or strengthening the existing ones to motivate students and alleviate fear in sports and physical activities involvement especially among university students