Earlier quoted context omitted.
Were these communities not affected by the lockdowns? Surely, remote learning and cancellation of intramural sports, etc, led to worse average fittness.
How so? Ate more healthily at home, walked more, got outside more generally. Physical health likely improved with lockdowns.
All across Canada, for example, the government-imposed and "public health"-imposed restrictions were remarkably harmful to the health of the general public.
It varied somewhat by region, but pretty much all fitness facilities, including gyms, were shut down for extended (many months, if not longer) periods of time. Some never reopened. Losing access to facilities like those was a big problem in a country where harsh winters can seriously limit outdoor activities for several months each year.
There were also curfews and other restrictions that prevented or severely limited people from doing exercise and other physical activity outside.
The lockdowns and restrictions also destroyed or seriously harmed many businesses, which resulted in significant stress for the employees, owners, suppliers, and others affected. They suffered financial harm, job losses, business losses, and so on.
The forced masking and forced shots caused significant stress for those who were lucky enough to not lose their jobs or businesses.
Hospitals, medical clinics, and doctors cancelled or significantly delayed huge numbers of procedures and screenings.
Those are just a few examples. It went well beyond those. I didn't touch on the harm from the education-related restrictions, for instance.
Between 2020 and 2023 in Canada, blatantly idiotic "public health" policies caused far more people far more physical and mental harm than any virus did.